Little Girl, Big Trouble
by TheDoctorAndSarah
Summary: When the Doctor dropped little Sarah Jane off with her Aunt Lavinia, he thought that was the end of it. But just how many matches can you strike before someone gets burned? 10, SJ, Lavinia AU SQ to Little Girl, Big Magic *** NOW COMPLETE ***
1. Chapter 1

**URGENT NOTE:** As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!

* * *

In "Little Girl, Big Magic," the Doctor saves a five year old Sarah Jane from the accident that killed her parents. That story stands on its own, but we found that we loved the idea of little Sarah spending time with the Doctor so much that we just couldn't leave things alone. This story (which also stands on its own) takes place after he drops her off at Lavinia's, but before he meets her at Deffry Vale. If you're a stickler for continuity, don't worry, so are we. We promise that everything will fit together. Eventually. :)

* * *

The Doctor closed the TARDIS doors behind him, his hearts pounding. He'd thought that it would be easy to let go of little Sarah Jane. After all, she was just a child and they had so much ahead of them. But it wasn't. And yet seeing her at home, with her Aunt Lavinia, it just seemed so much more dangerous than anything else they had done. Spending time with her now, long before they were supposed to meet, was playing with fire, and he knew it.

He stared at the console. He should go straight to 2009, to finally have his happily-ever-after with the adult Sarah Jane. He really should.

But then, how long would that last? Thirty years? Forty? Fifty at the outside.

And then there was the fact that he felt like he'd just abandoned her all over again, just as he had after Castria.

But she was right there, he thought. Right there, little, years away from meeting him. Surely it wouldn't be that bad to go back there. Just to see her. Just so that she knew he hadn't abandoned her. Just to make her feel a little better. Just to make **himself **feel a little better.

He felt like a child who'd discovered a box of matches. They made such a pretty light, such a tempting smell, gave such a thrill when he struck them. Surely striking just one more little match wouldn't hurt...

The Doctor finished cleaning up Sarah's toys and checked the coordinates. He'd just make it a quick trip, and look in on Sarah on her sixth birthday. She would remember him when she saw him, of course, but with her unexpected appearance just as he was leaving, he wasn't sure what she would or wouldn't remember otherwise. If she hadn't said a word to Lavinia about him all this time, Lavinia was unlikely to let him get too close. After all, to her, he was just a stranger who'd brought her niece home. He wouldn't have much hope of spending too much time with Sarah. But any time he could get was welcome, even if all he did was say 'hello.'

When the TARDIS landed, he walked back down the street towards Lavinia's house. It was spring now, and flowers were blooming in the front of the 1957 yards. Well, most of them. Lavinia's was neat, and precise, with no debris, no mess, and rows of neatly organized blooms that contrasted with the typical scattered English garden. 'Ever the scientist,' the Doctor thought. Still, they looked as though they hadn't been subject to their usual standard of care. Taking in a five year old will do that to you, he mused, knocking on the door.

Lavinia Smith opened the door and smiled at him. "It's Doctor Smith, isn't it? I'd almost given up hope of seeing you again. Do come in, please."

"Thanks so much," the Doctor said, glad that that hurdle, at least, was cleared. "So nice to see you again."

"I take it you've come back to visit with Sarah Jane," said Lavinia.

"I have," he said, trying to read her face, and failing. "It's her birthday tomorrow, isn't it?"

'Yes it is," Lavinia smiled. "She'll be six now come the morning, and she attends school. She's doing very well at it too."

"I'm sure she is. She's a very intelligent little girl." He sat down in the chair she indicated and watched as she sat down across the table from him. "Is she ... happy?"

"She still misses her parents, naturally, but she's been slowly adjusting." Lavinia grew somewhat sad. "It's been an adjustment for both of us, but to be honest, it's helped both of us I think to have each other to turn to. School's been a good distraction for her as well," Lavinia mustered a smile. "Can I get you some tea Doctor Smith?"

"I'd love some, thank you." He watched her retreat to the kitchen. She looked so much more than the year older that she was when he'd seen her such a short time ago. But then, loss will do that to you, he thought. And taking care of Sarah Jane was likely a bit stressful as well.

Lavinia came back and sat down again. "I've put the kettle on. We can chat while it's heating up." She gave the Doctor friendly look. "Have you come back to visit then?"

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop in and see how she was doing, say hello, that sort of thing."

She nodded. "By the way, I think it's only fair to tell you, that after the last time I saw you, I made some inquiries about you."

"Inquiries?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and making a point to smile. "With whom, if I may ask."

"Let's just say that I spoke to a very reliable source, and you weren't exactly honest with me about the circumstances surrounding your bringing home Sarah Jane."

"Oh?" he asked, wondering just what Sarah Jane had seen fit to tell her Aunt.

"Yes. I found out that you're a very modest man. You didn't find Sarah wandering down the road at all. In fact, you risked your life to pull her out of the back seat. And I understand that you were injured in the process."

"Welllll," he hedged, unconsciously rubbing the still-healing burn on his hand. "It wasn't anything serious, and there's no need to make things overdramatic. The important thing is that she's all right, and she's home, isn't it?"

"Yes. Well, it is very important that Sarah came home alive and safe. And I admire your modesty. But I'm afraid I owe you a tremendous debt. I hope your hand is healed."

"Oh yes, it's fine," he said, wiggling his fingers at her. "So where is the birthday girl?"

Lavinia noticed that he was a bit uncomfortable about all this, and decided to let the rest of it go for now. After all, her intent was only to thank him, not to make things awkward. "Sarah Jane is outside having a tea party with her dolls. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you. If you like, I'll get your tea and you can go out and join her."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." He stood and when she handed him the tea, he went out into the back garden.

Sarah Jane was sitting at a small table with several small chairs. She was wearing one of her Aunt's old hats, and she had one of Lavinia's handbags hanging from her wrist. The long pink formal gown over her play clothes was so big it seemed to swallow her up. She didn't see the Doctor right away, however, because it seemed that she was dealing with a rather sticky problem at the moment. "You silly old bear, you need to save some of the honey for the other guests. You're to wait politely for everyone else to have been served, and then you may have what's left," she said, pointing a scolding finger at a stuffed Winnie the Pooh.

"He can't help it," the Doctor said, "he's just that kind of bear."

Sarah startled for a moment and then made a running leap into the arms of the Doctor, almost tripping over her gown as she ran. He barely managed to set his tea down in time. "You're back," she exclaimed. "My Prince is back!"

The Doctor gave her a huge hug, her little legs swinging in the air. For him, it had only been a few minutes since he'd seen her, but as good as it felt, it might as well have been a year, as it had been for her. "And a Happy Birthday to you. I hear you're six now."

"I am, I'm in school now too, and I can read," she said proudly.

"Well, I'm very proud of you," he said. "But then, I was proud of you before. And I'm not surprised you can read, you were already reading a little bit when you were just five, and a little girl.""Look how much taller I am," she said, stretching herself up as high as she could.

The Doctor sat her back down in her chair and knelt beside her. "I know, I can see you've grown so much since I was here."

She reached up and started playing with his hair. "How long will you stay?"

He smiled. "I'll stay all day if you like."

"I see you brought some tea, would you care to join us," she asked, pointing to a small chair. "Maid Marion doesn't mind moving." She picked up a medieval looking doll and moved her to another chair, positioning her to sit with Elizabeth the stuffed owl. "She likes sitting next to Elizabeth much better than Pooh Bear anyway. Do you mind sitting next to him?"

"Not at all," the Doctor said. He considered trying to squeeze into one of the chairs, but he realized that his legs were much too long, so he sat down on the grass instead. "I happen to like Pooh Bear very much," he told the stuffed animal. "Isn't that right, Edward?" He made the stuffed bear nod its head.

"Oh, I didn't know you two were already acquainted," she said very seriously, pretending to pour out tea into the tiny cups on the table. She motioned towards the stuffed owl. "You already know Elizabeth, but have you met Maid Marion? If you haven't, then you need to be formally introduced." She turned to the doll. "Maid Marion, this is Prince Charming, my future husband." She then turned to the Doctor. "Prince Charming, this is Maid Marion."

"I don't believe that we've met," he said. He held a hand out to the doll. "Good morning, Lady Marion, I am the Doctor, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"She's going to marry Robin Hood one day. Have you ever met him?"

"I have, actually. A lovely man, if a bit gamey. But then living in the forest is like that. Not much opportunity to shower. However, I'm sure that Lady Marion here will be very happy with him."

"I think he's quite dashing actually. I've only seen him on the telly though, so I can't tell what he smells like. But I like his smile very much."

"I'm sure he has a lovely smile," the Doctor said, trying to work out exactly which version of Robin Hood she was talking about. Finally, he decided that it didn't matter. "As do you," he said formally.

Sarah Jane crooked her finger and motioned for him to come closer to her.

He leaned in, putting his nose practically up against hers.

She turned his head so she could whisper in his ear. "I think you're smile is much nicer than Robin Hood's, but I don't want to be rude to Maid Marion," she said softly.

He laughed. "Thank you," he whispered. "I must say, your manners are impeccable."

"Thank you very much," she said as she sat up and fussed with her hat. "I've been taking etiquette lessons. Aunt Lavinia says I need them to be a proper young lady. My teacher says I have very good deportment."

"And she's correct," the Doctor said. "You're more polite than I am."

"It's not your fault," she said. "You didn't know I was having a tea party today, so we must overlook the fact that you're not dressed properly."

"Yes, I see that you're wearing formal dress. But I am wearing a suit. Perhaps a tuxedo would have been more appropriate?"

Sarah Jane couldn't 'keep up appearances' any longer, and burst into giggles. "You did it all wrong, you didn't bow or kiss my hand, or anything. You need to go to etiquette lessons too."

He burst into giggles with her. "I'm so terribly sorry, m'lady," he said, standing and bowing to her. He took her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. "Please forgive my horrible lack of protocol."

Sarah smiled approvingly, then bowed her head graciously towards him. "I could forgive **you** for anything, my Lord.""Oh, thank you, now I may go on with my life."

Before Sarah Jane could answer, Lavinia came up to them. "Sarah Jane my dear, don't forget that Mrs. Caswell will be here in a few minutes, and you'll need to be on your best behavior for her." Then she turned to the Doctor. "You're welcome to stay and visit as long as you like, Doctor Smith, but I'm afraid I have a rather urgent engagement in a little while and I have to leave. I do hope you'll still be here when I get back. It should only take an hour or two."

The Doctor could tell this was more than a simple appointment. He stood. "Is everything all right?"

Lavinia looked at him closely, debating whether or not she should confide in him. "I don't know why, but I feel that I could tell you just about anything, Doctor Smith," she finally said. "Sarah Jane, would you please excuse us for a moment?"

"Yes, Auntie," Sarah nodded.

"Thank you," said Lavinia. "Do you mind stepping back into the house so we can talk," she asked the Doctor.

"Of course," the Doctor said, retrieving his tea before heading back into the house. "What's wrong?"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 2

"Well," said Lavinia a little nervously as she motioned for him to sit down. "There's really nothing wrong, it's just that a situation has come up and I feel the need to explore it before I make any judgment on it."

"And you're a bit uneasy about it," he said, trying to spur her on.

"Yes, that's exactly right, how clever of you to notice. If it weren't for a friend of mine, I would normally just dismiss the whole thing. I don't believe in that sort of stuff and nonsense. I am a scientist after all. My friend, however, has been very insistent that I go with her tonight to a seance, of all things. You see, she went to one a few days ago, and the person conducting it brought up Eddie and Barbara." With that, Lavinia wrung her hands unconsciously. "She said that they had a message for me." Lavinia looked up uncomfortably at the Doctor. The very thought of what had happened clearly disturbed her.

"I'll tell you," the Doctor said thoughtfully, "I've never seen anything in my life that makes me believe in ghosts." Ghosts almost always turned out to be something else, he thought. Burning gas, homesick aliens, Cybermen, almost anything but the spirits of the dearly departed. But Lavinia was a smart woman, and this was troubling her. "And neither have you, I'm guessing."

"No, I haven't but my friend completely believes in this woman. She swore to me that everything she told her was accurate down to the last detail. She says that there's no way Madame Leotta could know the things she told her, other than being able to communicate with her late husband. She said she could even smell Mortimer's cigar smoke in the room, and he used to smoke a very unusual brand of cigar. Honestly, I'm just so uneasy about all this. I wouldn't go, but Evelyn is my best friend, and it means so much to her."

The Doctor was thoughtful. "That is odd. Do you ... do you want some company?"

Lavinia reached out and barely touched the Doctor's arm for reassurance, then put her hand down. "Oh, if only you could! I'd be ever so grateful. All this is making me so uneasy."

"Certainly," the Doctor smiled. "I'd be more than happy to do that, if it'll ease your mind a bit. I'll just go sit with Sarah Jane until the sitter comes, shall I?"

"That would be lovely," Lavinia said as she looked around the room with dismay until she found her purse. "Oh dear, I just know I'm going to be six pence short of a shilling before this day is over."

The Doctor put a reassuring arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Not to worry, Lavinia, I'm sure it'll all work out."

She smiled at his friendly gesture. "Thank you so much, but now, see here, if you're going to call me Lavinia, then I intend to call you John. Might just as well," she paused. "It'll be better for appearances sake, especially this evening."

"Well, now, if you're going to be like that, my friends call me 'Doctor'," he said.

"Sounds even more formal if you ask me, but, if that's what you prefer," Lavinia sighed nervously, still thinking of the seance, "Doctor it is."

Just then Sarah started pulling on the Doctor's jacket. They hadn't noticed her, and she was growing impatient. "I waited a long time, it's been several moments, and you didn't come back to me," she scolded.

"My goodness, you're right, I've been terribly neglectful," he smiled. He lifted her up and set her on his hip. "Tonight, with your permission, madam, I'm going to accompany your Auntie here to an appointment. I trust you don't mind?"

"You are coming back though, aren't you?" She wrapped her finger around his tie and smiled at him.

"Of course I am, but **you **will probably be in bed. So if it's all right with your Auntie, I'll come back tomorrow." He looked over at Lavinia.

Lavinia nodded. "Of course, it's more than alright. That means that you'll be here for Sarah Jane's birthday party, and I know she'll be very pleased to have you there. You're even welcome to stay in the guest room tonight if you like." She turned to her niece. "Now then young miss, you're to be a good girl and go right to bed, understood," she asked, stroking Sarah Jane's head affectionately.

"Yes Auntie." Then she turned to the Doctor. "If I go and change into my jimjams now, will you tell me a bedtime story before you leave?"

He looked over at Lavinia.

"If you don't mind, Doctor," said Lavinia. "I'm sure Sarah Jane will enjoy it. I usually read to her at night." Lavinia grew a bit wistful. "It's a family custom, you see."

"Then it will be my pleasure." He set her down. "Off with you, then."

Sarah turned to Lavinia and raised her arms to be picked up. "Good night, Auntie, I love you," she said as Lavinia held her, then leaned over to give her a hug and kiss her cheek. Sarah lingered for a moment in the security of Lavinia's arms. Anyone could see that she was a naturally affectionate child and that she and her Aunt shared a happy existence together. In spite of what both of them had been through, or perhaps, because of their shared loss, they had learned to turn to each other for love and solace.

"Good night my precious one, I love you too," said Lavinia and smiled lovongly at her, then set her down and sent her off to her room.

The Doctor watched the two of them and thought that perhaps it was Sarah Jane's compassion that set her apart from his other companions. No, that couldn't be it. Love and compassion was something that was threaded throughout the human race. Maybe that was why they always endured. It gave them something to live for. But it was Sarah who had really taught him not so much about compassion, but about affection. A small part of him felt guilty for not taking that affection back to Gallifrey; in the end, it was their coldness that had been their undoing, he thought. Maybe that was why he felt compelled to come back now, to really learn that affection so he'd be worthy of her when he came back to her in her future. "You're doing a wonderful job with her," he said as Sarah disappeared up the stairs. "I'm sure she's a handful."

"Actually, she's quite well behaved. Mind you, she's not perfect. She has an insatiable curiosity and most of the time, when she's not asking questions, she's 'investigating matters,' as she calls it," Lavinia laughed. "I'm afraid that my efforts to teach her scientific methods has rather backfired on me. There's nothing she's afraid to get into."

The Doctor laughed. Some things never changed. "I can imagine. Well, she's quite intelligent, you should be very proud of yourself."

"I don't take credit for her intelligence Doctor," said Lavinia as she sighed again. "That determined little mind of hers is strictly her own. I just try and steer it in the right direction."

Sarah Jane ran back down the stairs as if on cue. "Here I am. This is my prettiest nightgown, do you like it Doctor? It's looks just like one of the dresses that Prudence Kitten wears on the telly," she said proudly, holding the lacy edges up as she turned round to show the Doctor.

"You look very pretty," the Doctor said dutifully, and reached down to take her hand. "Now let's get you off to bed."

Sarah Jane put her hand in his. "Come along, I'll show you where my room is. Auntie gave me a new one because I live here now."

The Doctor waved at Lavinia as he let her lead him off. Finally, after she showed him around her new room, she climbed into bed, and the Doctor sat down beside her. "Now, what story would you like to hear tonight?"

"I want you to make up a story please," she said, smiling up at him expectantly.

"Hm," the Doctor said, thinking about it. "All right, but you're going to have to help me with it. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Sarah Jane. And she liked to go walking in the woods. One day, when she was walking in the woods, what do you think she came across?"

Sarah Jane thought for a moment. "A blue and green monster with lots of eyes."

"Oh, my," the Doctor said. "She came across a blue and green monster with lots of eyes. Except it was a very small monster, and not very menacing. In fact, it was lonely. 'Princess Sarah Jane', it said, 'will you take me home with you?'"

"Did she say yes, and did it say his name was Norman? And then did it turn into a ball, and did it bounce by her side all the way home?" Sarah Jane asked.

"As a matter of fact, it did," the Doctor said. "And while it was bouncing by her said, it said, 'I have a message for you from the Reasonably Handsome Prince. He says that he's very glad to see you well.'"

"'Where is my Prince?' asked the Princess. 'I want him to come and visit me,'" Sarah said.

"'He is off fighting the evil ones,' the monster said, 'but he said that he will come as soon as he's able.' So the Princess Sarah went home, determined to wait for the Reasonably Handsome Prince, no matter how long it took. But while she was waiting, she got very sad."

"So she went to the gypsy camp," Sarah interjected, "and promised them a gold piece if they could tell her when her Prince was coming back to her. She told them she would give them five more gold pieces if they were right."

"My goodness," the Doctor said, "that's one enterprising little Princess." Never duel bedtime stories with a budding writer, he reminded himself.

"I don't know what that means, " said Sarah Jane. "But if you're lucky enough to be a Princess, then you should have lots of ways to get what you want, shouldn't you?"

He nodded. "You absolutely should. So she gave the gypsies her gold piece, and they told her that her Prince would come to her when she was twenty three years old."

"Then the Princess was very sad," Sarah pouted. "So, she went back to the castle and cried for a very long time. She wouldn't eat her supper or even afters, and it was her favorite too, chocolate cream. Finally, she had an idea. She summoned the magic fairy and asked her to put a spell on her so she would go to sleep and not wake up until her Prince came back."

"And the magic fairy," the Doctor said, "told the Princess that she couldn't do that, because it would make everyone in the kingdom sad, and she knew that the Princess didn't want that to happen. So the magic fairy gave the Princess a magic flower that would remind her of the Prince and let her know that he was all right, and she promised the Princess that the Prince would come for a visit now and then until he could come back for her for good."

"The Princess didn't like that one tiny bit," Sarah Jane continued, "but she was a Princess, and she knew she had to take care of her people. However," added Sarah very primly, "she had the magic fairy arrange it so the Prince could return at least once a year on her birthday, and when ever he returned, he gave her a big kiss, a special gift, and a box of her favorite chocolates."

"I see, not just an enterprising Princess, but a shrewd one," the Doctor said. "All right, the magic fairy arranged it, and in the morning, when the Princess woke up, the Prince was there with her special gift, and a box of her favorite chocolates." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "And there is her kiss."

Sarah's eyes grew wide with surprise. She had no idea her plan to get him to visit her would work so well. "Does that mean if I go to sleep now, you'll be here in the morning with a gift and a box of chocolates?"

"It does, in fact, mean that I will be here in the morning with a gift and a box of chocolates, you clever girl," he said, tucking her in. "As for the rest, we'll have to see. But I promise a present in the morning, if you go to sleep **right now**."

She flashed him a precocious smile. "I promise I will go to right to sleep, but may I kiss you goodnight first?" She held her arms out to him and waited.

"All right, but right to sleep, then." He gave her a hug and turned his head so she could kiss his cheek.

Sarah kissed him and then put her cheek against his. "Goodnight my prince, I love you."

The Doctor's hearts stopped for just a moment. If there had been any doubt that this was his Sarah Jane, that blasted it to atoms. "Good night, Sarah Jane," he said, and turned out the lights. "I love you too."

Sarah Jane laid her head down on the pillow and hugged Elizabeth tightly to her. She fell asleep a few moments later, still thrilled that the Doctor would be there in the morning, and thinking about what sort of gift he would bring her.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor came down the steps just as the babysitter arrived. "Well," he said to Lavinia, "that's one determined little girl you've got there. She just extracted a promise from me to try and visit her every year on her birthday."

"If you like, Doctor, I'll talk to her about it tomorrow at breakfast. It isn't right for her to make you promise things like that," Lavinia said as she slipped her coat on. "If she's this persistent at six, can you imagine what she'll be like when she's ten, or worse yet, fifteen?" Lavinia shook her head at the thought. "Heaven help me, I can feel the grey coming up in my hair already."

The Doctor chuckled. "I'm sure that's true, but but don't worry about talking to her about it. It would be my pleasure, if it's all right with you. And every little girl wants an extra present on her birthday."

"I warn you, she's not only determined, she can be quite persuasive too. Sarah Jane seems to have charmed her way into your life, Doctor," said Lavinia with a knowing smile.

"Yes, much too late to worry about that," he said, and offered her his elbow. "Do you mind if we take your car?"

"Not at all, do you mind driving? I'd feel much better if you would."

And so that's what they did. The Doctor squeezed into Lavinia's car and despite the fact that he felt like his knees were up around his ears, he drove, and they headed for Evelyn's house. The Doctor tried to be reassuring, but Lavinia seemed to get more nervous as they went.

"I'm curious, Lavinia," the Doctor finally said, "what are you more concerned about? That it's real, or that it's not?"

Lavinia paused. "You know, I don't know. I have never believed in this sort of mumbo-jumbo before, but Evelyn is just so convinced, and she's not the type to be taken in by anyone."

"So you're afraid that it's real, then."

"I suppose I am. It may be that she just misses her husband so much that she wants to accept that he's trying to contact her. Believe me, I would dearly love to contact my brother. He and his wife died so suddenly, and to have a chance to tell him everything I never got to say, well, it would mean a lot to me." Lavinia was clearly shaken.

Inwardly, the Doctor sighed. He knew that the chances of this being legitimate were pretty slim. "You know," he said, "if Eddie **is **out there, he already knows how you feel. You don't need some medium to make that happen."

"Do you believe in life after death, Doctor? I'd like you to know that I value your opinion as a fellow scientist."

"Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of 'life' and 'death'. If you mean is there a Judeo-Christian 'heaven' with angels flying around playing the harp, well, I don't have any direct experience in that matter, but I strongly doubt it. On the other hand, do I think that a consciousness can go on without its corporeal form? Under certain very, very specific circumstances, yes, I suppose that's true, but certainly not as often as people would like to think."

"That's a very vague answer, but I suppose I deserve it for putting you on the spot that way," Lavinia smiled. "Death is such a personal thing, isn't it? I've always found it quite interesting that most people are very private about their beliefs. Unless of course, they're zealots, and then they tend to make you feel very defensive about your personal convictions. Eddie always believed that the way you lived said more about what you stood for than words ever could. He was such a good man. You would have liked him a great deal, I think."

"I'm sure I would. But I think most people are private about it because death itself is such a scary thing. I think that most mortal species are born subconsciously aware of the fact that they're eventually going to die, and that time is a limited commodity." He listened to what he was saying. 'Even Time Lords,' he thought.

"I had a professor in college who taught that everyone is born alone and dies alone. I suppose that's true in the most clinical sense, isn't it?"

The Doctor was taken aback for a moment. How true that was! Even now, with her here for company, he was alone. And while he was resolved to go back for Sarah Jane and spend the rest of her life with her, to her very end, eventually, he would die alone. "I suppose, then, all we can do is make the most of what comes in between," he said, plastering a smile on his face.

"I have heard and read a lot about spirits that are earthbound and stay near the places that they were close to while they were alive. How do you feel about that, Doctor? Are you the type that believes in keeping an open mind?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, I'm probably the most open-minded person you know. I believe in keeping an open mind, as long as it's not so open that your brain falls out. That said, if you believe that a consciousness can exist without it's corporeal form, why wouldn't it stay close to home, so to speak?"

"I suppose you're right about that. I have been watching a program on the telly that talks about supernatural things. This week it said that people in a coma can hear anything you say to them. Last week they were talking about people seeing angels and family members when they were dying. I just don't know what to make of it all," she said as she pondered the possibility.

The Doctor gave it some thought. There were, of course, all sorts of explanations, from neurological activity, to latent psychic activity that is no longer inhibited, to aliens. "I suppose that nobody really knows what to make of it, and the people who have actually died don't normally come back to talk about it." The Doctor realized that that included him; if he ever actually did die before he could regenerate, that was it for him.

"I wish that someone did exist that could communicate with people that have passed on. Although I want to believe in it, I'm afraid I can't without some kind of empirical proof."

"As it should be," the Doctor said.

"Ah," said Lavinia, looking up. "Turn left at the stop sign coming up, Doctor. Once you do, her house is the fourth on the right." She looked at him as he easily maneuvered the car around the corner. "I know I already said it, but I can't tell you how glad I am that you're here with me. I'm not sure I would have been able to get through this without you."

He smiled at her. "It's going to be fine, don't worry." He considered whether or not to discourage her, then decided that honesty would probably be best. "You know, I've actually been to a few of these, but not one of them turned out to be legitimate."

"If I may ask, what happened to disprove them?"

"Well, I've seen several different kinds of frauds, from the simple wire running into another room to enable an accomplice to make noises, to somewhat more complex situations, such as an elaborately set up ghost in the garden that would float close to a window while eerie music from 'the other side' filled the air. I've also seen devices that would make knocking sounds on a table that were operated by foot pedals while everyone held hands. That was quite a while ago however."

"According to Evelyn, it was nothing like that. She said the woman placed a glass in front of her and the spirits used it to signal that they were there and ready to answer questions."

The Doctor considered that. "Did she say how the spirits signaled to her?"

"It all sounded somewhat vague to me. There was a glass on the table and when questions were asked it moved. Much more than that, I can't say. I suppose we'll just have to see for ourselves how it's done."

"I suppose we will," he said as they pulled into Evelyn's drive.

Evelyn had been watching for them at the door and almost ran to the car when she saw it pull into the drive. As she jumped into the back seat, she eyed the Doctor, and then smiled appreciatively at him. "Who's your gentleman friend, Lavinia dear? I do hope you're going to introduce him."

"Don't be daft Evelyn, of course I will. This gentleman is Doctor Smith, he's the one I told you about. He found Sarah Jane and brought her to me the day of the accident. Doctor, this is my friend Evelyn Bishop."

"Hello, Evelyn Bishop," the Doctor said, reaching into the back seat to shake her hand, "glad to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you I'm sure. My aren't you tall," she said as she shook his hand.

"Not exactly an advantage at the moment," the Doctor smiled, shifting himself back around uncomfortably. "So I understand," he said as he pulled out of the driveway, "that you've heard from your husband Mortimer."

"My late husband, " she corrected him. "Yes I have, and it's been such a blessing for me."

"Has it? How so?"

"Well, there were a number of things I wanted to tell Morty that I didn't get a chance to before he died. You see, he went quiet suddenly. I can tell you, I was quite unprepared when I lost him." She pulled a handkerchief out and dabbed at her eyes. "There's not a day goes by that I don't miss him. We were married almost fifteen years. We were high school sweethearts, we two."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Suddenly the Doctor didn't feel as good about discouraging Lavinia. "But you got to ... say things to Mortimer that you wish you had before."

"Yes, and I feel ever so much better now. Especially because I know how he feels about it all too. I can't begin to tell you what a relief it's been to me."

"I'm very glad to hear that. Tell me, Evelyn, how did you know that it was Mortimer speaking to you?"

"Well, for one thing, Madam Leotta was able to describe him perfectly for me, right down to those awful old cigars he used to love to smoke. He's told me things, through Madam Leotta, things I needed to have answered for my peace of mind. She knew other things too, things that very few people know. She even talked the way Mortimer used to."

"Did she, now," the Doctor murmured. "Evelyn, I don't want to pry, but what sort of things did she tell you?"

Evelyn paused for a moment, debating what she should say, if anything. Finally she decided that if Lavinia trusted him, so would she. "Well, sir, it was absolutely uncanny, that's what it was. She said she was summoning Morty up, and then she leaned back and her eyes sort of rolled back in her head. She said that she had made contact and my husband wanted to talk to me through her. He told me that he loved me and that he was very happy where he was, and I that wasn't to worry about him anymore. He told me even though he was unconscious in the hospital, he could feel me holding his hand and he heard me tell him I loved him. Then she described the room he died in as if she were there when it happened."

The Doctor nodded. It didn't take a psychic to have guessed any of that; any wife who would ask a medium to talk to her late husband would have been holding his hand and telling him she loved him. And one hospital room was much like another. Still, it wasn't absolute proof of anything. "Did she tell you anything surprising?"

"Yes, she knew about the family he helped a few years ago, the ones that lives in Mitcham Common."

Now that was interesting. "What about them?"

"Well, he met the family through his work, he owned several auto repair shops and the husband applied for a job with him one day. Morty gave him the job because he was good at it, and he could tell the poor man was down on his luck. His wife had just had a baby that needed a lot of medical attention, and my husband sent them to our doctor and took care of the bills until the man was back on his feet. Morty did it on the quiet and I don't imagine that many people besides the family, myself and Morty knew about it."

"Morty sounds like a very special man," the Doctor said gently, musing on this information.

"That he was, Doctor Smith, a truly wonderful man," she sighed. "Yes, that was my husband."

The Doctor mulled that over as they drove. It certainly wasn't the type of thing that could be easily guessed. Or perhaps the "psychic" did a cold read, in which the victim unintentionally leads the psychic to the answer. He'd have to watch for that.


	4. Chapter 4

When the Doctor, Lavinia and Evelyn walked up to the house where the seance was to take place, the door opened before they could knock. "Oh, Madam Leotta, I want you to meet my best friend Lavinia Smith, and her friend Doctor Smith," Evelyn said anxiously. "I told Lavinia what you said about her brother wanting to speak to her, that's why she and her friend came with me today. I do hope that's alright."

Madam Leotta smiled at Lavinia and the Doctor. She was wearing a black caftan with gold sequined collar and cuffs. Her fingers were covered with rings, and she was wearing several bracelets and big gold hooped earrings as well. Her hair was black and her eye liner and makeup gave her a mysterious cat like expression. "Come in my dears, you're quite welcome," she almost purred the words. "I'm always so happy to reunite people with their loved ones."

The Doctor silently wondered if she could have tried any harder to conform to the "gypsy fortune teller" stereotype. Still, every stereotype had some truth behind it somewhere. "Very nice to meet you, Madame Leotta," he said, holding out his hand.

She held her hand out to him with an exaggerated gesture, "Ah Doctor Smith, my spirits tell me that you're here to test my gift."

He smiled. It didn't take a psychic to guess that. Better not to completely spook her, though. "You wound me, Madame Leotta. I come here with a completely open mind. I've seen plenty of strange things with no explanation. This could easily be another one."

"Wait and see, I promise that you'll be quite surprised. The spirits are most eager to make contact this evening," she said, smiling. Her smile made her look even more cat-like. One would almost expect her to pounce any minute.

"I can't wait," he said, and took the ladies' elbows to usher them into the house.

Madam Leotta led them to a table that was bare except for a tall glass sitting in the middle of it. "Please sit down," she motioned to them. "As I said, the spirits are most eager tonight to speak."

The Doctor pulled out chairs for Lavinia and Evelyn, surreptitiously looking for wires or other gadgets, then sat in the chair between them and looked up expectantly as he squeezed Lavinia's hand reassuringly.

Lavinia let out a nervous sigh and looked at him with gratitude. She had been afraid to speak. The scientist in her was rebeling at all this theatrical nonsense, but the thought that there could be even the slightest hope of Eddie actually being there kept niggling at her. "Let's hope the spirits are friendly ones," she said, still a bit on edge. 

"I can't imagine a relative of yours being anything but friendly, Lavinia," the Doctor said.

"Before we begin, I must tell you that the spirits sense that someone here could be a non-believer. I am afraid I must ask you all to try to remain as positive as you can. If we are to commune with the next world, there must be no negative energy in the room. I will ask you now to clear your minds and remember, you must be respectful and keep a serious attitude at all times. While you clear your minds, I will prepare the way for the spirits."

The Doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly, respectfully and seriously clearing his mind. There was always the chance that Madame Leotta was indeed legitimate, after all. As nervous as Lavinia was, he almost wanted that for her.

Madame Leotta smiled approvingly at the Doctor. "So that you understand what I'm doing, I will explain as I prepare. Kindly notice that there is a snow white tablecloth before you. It is there so that only benevolent spirits will enter this room. I am turning off the lights now and lighting the candles to provide warmth for those spirits that wish to communicate with us. Is anyone here allergic to incense?"

The Doctor shook his head, thinking, 'as long as it's just incense.'

"I'm not," said Lavinia trying to clear her head and relax.

"Before you arrived," said Madame Leotta. "I set the thermostate to a very comfortable temperature. The spirits don't like it if it's too hot or too cold," she said, lighting the incense. "Now I will need your cooperation at this point. Everyone take a few deep breaths and relax please while I cast a protective circle around us." Madame Leotta picked up the incense burner and stood up. Using her hands, she wafted the smoke from the incense as she slowly walked around the table three times. She set the incense down and took her place at the table once more. Then she turned the tall glass upside down and placed it in front of her. "Join hands please everyone, we are about to begin. I must also ask that you remain silent until contact has been made. Once I identify the spirit or spirits, then I will ask if you have any questions." She closed her eyes and was silent for several moments. Then she spoke. "The door to the spirit world has been opened. If there are spirits among us that wish to comminicate with a loved one here present, make yourself known to us now."

Lavinia unknowingly tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand. She held her breath waiting to see what would happen next.

Suddenly, the glass in front of Madame Leotta slowly began to move.

"Yes, we know now, you are here with us," said Madame Leotta. "Make yourself known to me, tell me what your name is, spirit." She closed her eyes and leaned back into the chair sharply. "Lavinia, it's Eddie," she said in a voice much lower than she had used before. "It hurts me to see you so sad."

Tears began to flow down Lavinia's face.

The Doctor watched, and listened, and opened his own senses. Time Lords didn't often use their telepathic senses with others, but he was sure he would have felt something. He did feel a bit of anger welling in him; he'd gotten attached to Lavinia vicariously, and now he was feeling, he realized, quite protective. If he had to step up and put a stop to this, he would. But not quite yet. Real or fake, if it gave Lavinia closure, he was for it.

"Do you remember, sister dearest, the day you fell from your new bicycle? It broke and you skinned your knee. I picked you up and helped you get into the house, then I put the chain back onto the bicycle for you. When I came in to tell you it was alright, you had a plate of biscuits and milk waiting for me," said Madame Leotta as Eddie.

Lavinia began to tremble and her breathing grew a bit faster. "Oh Eddie," she sobbed.

That was a bit surprising, the Doctor thought. On the other hand, it wasn't necessarily something that only the two of them knew. How clever of her to choose something so simple, and so poignant. But how did she know? Perhaps she investigates her guests. Morty's employee might have been easy to find when they were investigating Evelyn, and eager to extol his boss's virtues in the face of his death. He decided to give it a bit longer to see if he could decide definitively one way or the other.

All at once, Madame Leotta started to speak in a strange language.

The Doctor sat up in his seat and stared at her. The words coming out of her mouth were pure gibberish to their ears; it was rare that he encountered a language the TARDIS didn't automatically translate for him. It usually meant something so old, so beyond the so-called normal universe, that the TARDIS had no data on it. And that was never, ever, a good sign. He held his breath, waiting to see what would happen next, alert to any changes in their environment, the hair on the back of his neck standing up.

Evelyn and Lavinia just stared at her in shock. Neither had any idea as to what was going on.

After a few moments she stopped. "That was the spirit of an ancient Babylonian Princess. She tried to take over my body, but I managed to resist her and fight back." She turned to Lavinia. "I will try to communicate with your brother again, Miss Smith. Please focus all your thoughts on him and help me to bring him back."

The Doctor, who'd been holding his breath all this time, let it out in one quick, relieved, sigh. "I'm sorry, Madame Leotta, and I'm especially sorry to you, Lavinia, and to you Evelyn, but I happen to speak ancient Babylonian, and that is definitely not it."

Before they could respond, Madam Leotta stood up in anger. "How dare you challenge me, I..." Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes grew wide as she fell back into her chair. She began to make choking sounds, then pointed a finger at the Doctor. "This female cannot say your name, my son," said a commanding voice the Doctor immediately recognized. "I have come to tell you that you must stop blaming yourself for what happened to our people. What you did, you had to do. There was no other choice left. You must forgive yourself and prepare for the final battle."


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor felt all the blood drain out of his face, then his neck, then his chest, his hands growing suddenly numb as he clearly heard his mother speaking to him through Madame Leotta. He could tell he was shaking, but no amount of willing it to stop seemed to do the trick. A tiny part of his brain took back everything he'd been thinking about the medium. What he had done, and why he had done it, certainly wasn't something she could have learned, well, anywhere. His mouth moved, wanting to say something, anything, to her, but no sound emerged.

Then suddenly, Madame Leotta ran a hand over her forehead and looked over at the Doctor. She was shaking even harder than he was. "The seance is over. I'm sorry, the spirits have all left." Her voice wasn't deep and mysterious anymore. There was no longer any affectation either, instead she sounded frightened. "If you ladies would excuse me, I'd like to speak to Doctor Smith alone."

Lavinia was really confused now. She turned to the Doctor, who was still shaking, for an explanation. "Are you all right? What just happened?" she asked him.

He turned to look at her, trying to regain his composure. "I'm ... not entirely certain. Apparently Eddie isn't the only one who wanted to set someone straight." He took a deep breath and rubbed his face. "All right, look, you two, off to the car, I'll be there in a moment."

"See here," said Evelyn in a very put out tone. "I don't know you at all, and at the moment, I don't give a tinker's damn if Lavinia does trust you. You can't just order me about."

The Doctor took a deep breath and reminded himself that it would be extraordinarily rude to say what he wanted to to Lavinia's best friend. So instead, he turned to Lavinia and took her by both hands. "Lavinia, I really, really need to find out what just happened here. Would you mind, terribly, taking Evelyn out to the car?"

"That won't be necessary," said Madame Leotta impatiently. "If you'll just come with me to the kitchen, we can talk in there,"

The Doctor followed her wordlessly. Part of him just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until his mother returned. Until this moment, he hadn't given even half an instant's thought to speaking with her again. She, and so many others he'd cared about, were gone. He'd finally come to accept that. Now speaking to her again was all he wanted.

Madame Leotta walked over to the cupboard, pulled out a glass and then proceeded to pour some gin into it. She swallowed quickly, and then taking the glass and the bottle with her, she sat down at the table. "Want one?" she asked the Doctor, then took another long drink.

"Not particularly. But I could murder a ginger beer right now." He sat across from her, then grabbed her hands and stared intensely at her, as if his gaze itself could make things happen. "How did you do that?"

"I've had the gift as long as I can remember, but I've never had contact with a spirit that powerfully overwhelming before, and certainly, none of them have ever taken me over like that." Madame Leotta was trembling hard and looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, but she took another drink to try and steady herself instead.

"You mean all of this is real," the Doctor said. "Then why the phony Babylonian princess? Why all of this?" he said, motioning towards the gypsy get up.

"I tried doing it straight, but no one would have it. They all expect something spooky and exotic," she said as she held her hands up wiggling her fingers and shaking her bracelets in frustration. "People want me to look and act all mysterious or they won't believe it."

The Doctor rubbed his face again. None of this added up. He still wasn't sure what to make of all this. Madame Leotta clearly believed she was speaking with the spirits of the dead. Lavinia clearly believed that she'd spoken to Eddie. There was no doubt in his mind that that had been his mother, but technically speaking, she was trapped in the Time War; she wasn't actually dead, as much as he hated to think about that and what it meant. But something still confused him. "Why? You're not asking for money. What's the point of all this?"

Madame Leotta began to squirm a bit in her chair, then took another drink of gin. After a few moments, she seemed to have made a decision. "Look, you seem like a nice enough fellow. I could do you a favor if you could do one for me."

"A favor?" he asked, incredulously. "What sort of favor."

"After what just happened, I want out of this whole business. If you could give me enough money to get as far away from here as I can, I'll give you some very important information. She doesn't know it yet, but your friend Miss Smith is about to have a lot of serious trouble to deal with."

"What sort of trouble?"

"First tell me how much you can give me and then I'll tell you." She took another drink and then refilled her glass. "There may be some ginger beer in the Frigidaire, want me to look?"

The Doctor grabbed Madame Leotta by the caftan and hauled her out of her chair until her face was right up against his. Even as he did it, he thought about how out of character it was for him. But every nerve ending in his body was screaming, and he wanted answers. Now. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, and I can guarantee you, you don't want to. Now you tell me what I want to know, or you will never, EVER forget what's going to happen here tonight, do you understand?"

She nodded. She had been calming down, but now she was starting to shake again. "I'll tell you, but couldn't you please, please give me enough to get away? I don't want to get arrested. I couldn't stand it if they were to lock me up in a cell like a caged animal." Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She started to cry. "I've never done anything like this before, and I swear I never will again, but I needed the money. I was just so desperate."

"You tell me, and tell me now," the Doctor snarled.

"All I'm going to say is this, I don't speak anything but the Queen's English. All that Babylonian nonsense was just a big stall tactic. If I were you, I'd go get your friend and get her home as soon as possible. Now let me go, I need to get out of here straight away," she said as she tried to tug herself free.

The Doctor didn't like the sound of any of that, not at all. He took her by the arm and dragged her back out through the living room. "Ladies, we need to get home right now, and just in case, Madam Leotta here is coming with us." And with that, he pulled her right out the front door towards to the car, fishing around in his pocket as he went. Finally, he found what he was looking for. He opened the front passenger door with the hand not holding onto the medium, then rolled down the window and popped open the vent window in front of it. Then he used what might have been a pair of wrist clamps to handcuff Madam Leotta to the car door. "Get in," he said, in a tone that clearly brooked no argument.

"You let me go. I don't want any trouble," she said still struggling to break free. "I helped you, why can't you just appreciate that, and turn me loose?"

"What's going on here Doctor," said Lavinia. "What are you doing to Madame Leotta?"

"That's Maggie to you now," said the former Madam Leotta. "I don't want any part of what's happening with you lot any more. Just tell your friend here to let me go, and I won't bother you any further."

The Doctor opened the door for Lavinia and Evelyn. "Apparently there's something else going on here, and we need to get home immediately. So if you'll just jump in, quickly, we need to move, and **now**."

"Come along Evelyn, you heard the man. Now get into the car or stay here, because with or without you, we're leaving this minute," Lavinia said in her "no nonsense" voice as she got into the car.

Evelyn shook her head and got in. "I'm coming, but only to find out what's going on, and to look after you. Mind you, we'll have words about this later, **Miss **Smith."

The Doctor shoved Maggie into the car, closed the door, and sprinted to the driver's side. Something was very, very wrong, he was sure of it.

"Look I'm warning you to let me go. You just can't take me somewhere against my will you know, it's illegal," She turned to the two woman in the car with her. "You ladies don't want any trouble with the law do you?"

"She's got a point Doctor, we can't just spirit her away, if you'll pardon the pun," said Lavinia. "She hasn't done anything wrong that you know of has she?"

"Believe me," he said, as he pulled away from the curb and started speeding down the street, "I hope I owe her a huge apology, but I'm not taking any chances." There was an icy stab in the pit of his stomach. Whatever was going on back at the house, Sarah Jane was smack in the middle of it.

"Listen here Doctor Smith, I demand to know what's going on. Slow down this auto at once and explain yourself," Evelyn said.

The Doctor didn't slow down. "Care to enlighten them, Maggie?" he said.

"I'll enlighten all of you if you just let me go. I could give you information that could save you all a lot of trouble, but not unless you free my hands and let me leave," she said.

"I'll make you a deal, Maggie," the Doctor said, clipping a corner just a little too closely. "Information first, and then if everyone is all right, **then** I'll let you leave."

"I can't make any promises," said Maggie. "I'll tell you what's happened and what's going to happen, but you have to set me free and let me go."

"You'll tell us, and we'll go from there. I'm not interested in revenge, or even justice. All I'm interested in is the safety of the people I care about. So start talking."

"They've already been there and gone by now, no use to try and catch up with them," she smirked at the Doctor. "Now if you let me go, I might tell you where they are."

The Doctor drove right over Lavinia's lawn (and those of the other 3 neighbors between her and the corner) and skidded to a stop, leaping out almost before the car had come to a stop. "Sarah Jane!" he shouted as he sprinted for the door. Finding it locked, he caved it in with one mighty shove of his shoulder.

He heard a loud banging noise coming from the foyer closet and tore it open. Inside was Mrs. Caswell, bound and gagged. He tore off the gag, shouting "What happened?" over his shoulder as he ran up the stairs to Sarah's room.

"She's gone," Mrs. Caswell called out as she sobbed. "They've taken the poor wee thing."


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor jumped down the last five steps and helped her up. "How many were there? Did you recognize them? Do you know where they went?"

Just then Lavinia ran into the house, followed by Evelyn. "What's going on, what's happened, Mrs. Caswell? Have I been robbed?" asked Lavinia.

"Yes, Lord love you dearie," she answered her. "And they've taken the most valuable thing you have, the little one." She turned to the Doctor, "I saw only two men, but I could tell there was another one waiting in the motor car. He called out to them to hurry, and the engine was still running. One of them tied me up and the other ran upstairs and grabbed the child. When he came down here with her, she was all wrapped up in her blanket. You couldn't see her, but she was kicking and screaming. She bit the one carrying her through the blanket. He let out quite a yelp, then he dropped her. She tried to run away, but he caught her and gave her quite a tussle. He told her if she tried anything like that again, he'd box her ears good. Poor little dear."

Lavinia turned ash grey and sunk into a chair. "I'll never forgive myself. Here I was thinking of my brother and his wife while their child was being kidnapped. Evelyn, call the police."

Evelyn ran to the phone and started dialing.

The Doctor sprinted back out to the car. He grabbed Maggie by the shoulders. "Where have they gone?"

"Since I'm sure that by now the police are on the way, I have no intention of telling you anything until and unless you set me free," Maggie glared at him defiantly. "If I'm going to get arrested then I'm saving what I know to make a deal with the law."

The Doctor fished in his pocket for the key, unlocked the end of the cuffs attached to the car, and hauled her down the street to the TARDIS, where he practically threw her inside and cuffed her to the handrail. "Don't ask questions," he said quickly, holding up a finger and fixing her with his most terrifying glare. "You're safe from the police, so start talking, or I promise you, you will never have a chance to make a deal with **anybody**."

Maggie looked around her new surroundings with obvious terror, then turned to the Doctor shaking with fear. "I'll tell you whatever I can, but it's not much. They only paid me to keep the two ladies distracted while they took the little girl."

"WHERE?"

"I don't know exactly, but I heard them say they were heading for Kensington Station, from there, I don't know where they were going. They're going to call the Aunt and give her instructions about where to leave the money once they've settled in somewhere safe.

"Have you done this before?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, I told you before, I've never done anything like this before. I swear I haven't, but they have. They're a rotten bunch, I can tell you that."

The Doctor checked on the TARDIS's scanners to see if she recorded anything about the kidnapping. "What happened to their victims?"

"All I know is that they said they would return the child as soon as they got paid off." Maggie watched him intently. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for your friends. What else do you know about them?"

"They told me if the Aunt didn't do as she was told she would never see the little girl again. They promised me they wouldn't hurt her if everything goes well, but if they didn't get the money, no one would ever find her."

The Doctor wanted to breathe a little more easily. A simple ransom they could deal with. As long as Sarah Jane didn't do anything ... troublesome.

But something told him it wasn't going to be simple, and he'd seen enough of the horrors of humanity for his imagination not to try and interpret "no one would ever find her."

* * *

Meanwhile, the police had arrived at Lavinia's house and the Inspector was talking to Mrs. Caswell. Two other policeman were searching for clues and dusting for finger prints.

"And did anyone else know that you were here alone with the child?" the inspector asked Mrs. Caswell.

"Well now, as far as I know, it was just Miss Smith and her two friends," she answered.

"Can you account for your two friends, Miss Smith?" the inspector said as he turned toward her.

"Of course I can," she practically snapped at him. "This is nonsense, I've known Mrs. Bishop here for over twenty years, and Doctor Smith saved Sarah Jane's life last year and brought her home to me."

"Where is Doctor Smith now? Did he leave before we got here?"

"I suspect he may have gone to try and find Sarah Jane. Look here, if you're suggesting he had anything to do with this, you're dead wrong. He would never do anything to hurt her, besides, Sarah Jane adores him, she calls him..."

Just then the door opened and the Doctor burst in. "Maggie's escaped," he said, decidedly out of breath. "But she told me they're on their way to Kensington Station. Inspector, if you call over there now you should be able to catch them. If we miss them there's just two trains they could have taken. But if they're just changing vehicles ... What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Call it in!"


	7. Chapter 7

Inspector Roberts picked up the phone and called it in. "Be sure to ring me up here the moment you find out anything," he said, then hung up. He turned to the Doctor. "Who is Maggie and what's your part in all this?"

"I'd trust Doctor Smith with Sarah Jane's life and mine, Inspector Roberts," Lavinia said defensively.

"I'd just come for a visit," the Doctor explained, "and Lavinia asked if I'd come along with her to a seance. Maggie is 'Madame Leotta', the medium. When I realized there was something more than a seance going on, I dragged her along with us." He sat down heavily. "I wish I'd been wrong. On the upside, she said that the people who hired her to keep Lavinia busy have done this before, and as long as the ransom is paid they've returned the victims." He turned to Lavinia. "She said they'd be calling as soon as they were away. Hopefully it won't get that far."

"What's her last name and what does this Maggie look like", the inspector asked.

"I never got her last name. She's five foot seven, shoulder-length hair, dyed black, brown eyes, small mole next to her left eye, fairly decent teeth, large earrings that I'm sure she's gotten rid of by now, black caftan with gold collar and cuffs, black flats with remarkably slippery soles, actually, now that I think about it." But there was something else he was thinking about as well, and that was getting to Kensington. "They are going to call when they find anything right?"

"They are," Roberts assured him.

The door opened again, and another inspector arrived, surveying the scene. Roberts met him at the door, talking quietly as he seemed to point out all the players, as if the whole thing were an Agatha Cristie novel. He turned back to Lavinia. "Miss Smith, Inspector Donovan here is in charge of the investigation. I'm going to head upstairs and see if they're making any progress in Sarah Jane's bedroom."

Donovan reviewed the notes Roberts had handed him, and eyed the Doctor suspiciously. "Can I see your indentification, Doctor Smith?"

The Doctor fished the psychic paper out of his pocket and flashed it at the inspector. "Look, if all we can do is wait, I'd like to go out and look. I'm sure they're long gone from here, but maybe we can catch sight of where Maggie's gone."

Inspector Donavon looked at the paper and his eyebrows shot up. "I guess you're safe enough," he said, swallowing hard. "Still, stay close until I have a better idea of what's going on."

Lavinia had looked at the paper too. "That's quite an impressive degree, Doctor. Lovely recommendation as well." She smiled smugly at the inspector.

The Doctor idly wondered just what the psychic paper had said about him, but just as he was flipping it back so he could see, the phone rang, and he, along with everyone else in the room, jumped. "Wait a second," he told Lavinia as she started to answer it. He fished a small device out of his pocket and attached it to the receiver. "Go ahead."

The inspector turned to Lavinia quickly. "Try to sound as natural as possible when you answer it. Ask to speak to your niece to make sure she hasn't been harmed."

Lavinia answered the phone as if it were a snake about to strike at her, but she sounded very calm. "Hullo." Lavinia let out an anxious breath. "Yes, thank you, I won't forget," she hung up the phone dejectedly. "That was a reminder that I have a lecture to give on the 18th."

The Doctor put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find her, I promise." He went back to pacing, trying to figure out how to best extricate himself from the conversation so he could go looking for Sarah.

"Just as well that call wasn't from the kidnappers, Miss Smith, we weren't really prepared for them yet." Donovan put a sympathetic hand on her other shoulder. "Can you get me two pens and a pad of paper, please?"

"Certainly Inspector," said Lavinia. She walked away, glad for a something to do and a moment to herself.

The Doctor, meanwhile, felt like a coiled spring ready to snap. Rather than pacing, perhaps he might be able to find a clue up in her room that would tell him something about Sarah Jane's abductors. He headed up the steps quietly, trying not to attract attention. As he reached the top, he could see Roberts watching over two officers dusting for prints. Under normal circumstances, the fact that the room was an active crime scene wouldn't have stopped him from barging in. But he found himself being overly cautious, and he wondered whether that was a good thing. While he was thinking about it, he caught a snippet of their conversation.

"How long has it been now since the little tyke's been taken, sir?" one of the officers asked.

"About two hours, looks like," Roberts said.

"So there's still time, then." He dusted Sarah's dresser with a fine layer of graphite. "I don't know what's worse about a kidnapping," he mused, "the thought of what could happen, or knowing there's a clock ticking away." He shook his head and made a face. "I hate kidnappings. I'll never get over the Flynn case. What a mess that turned out to be."

Roberts shuddered. "I still having nightmares about that one." He shook his head as if to shake off the memories, and caught sight of the Doctor on the landing. He quietly stepped to the door and gently closed it, locking eyes with the Doctor in just an instant of sympathy.

The Doctor realized that he was standing at a point in human history where the nature of kidnapping was changing. The era of snatching a rich man's son in order to gain a ransom was coming to a close, and humans were moving into a much more scary time, when kidnapping was evolving into something much more heinous.

He tried to push it to the back of his mind. Maggie had said the kidnappers were after money, and Lavinia was not a woman without means. If he were going to be able to focus on finding her, he had to believe it was that simple, and not let his imagination run wild, tormenting him with the darker possibilities. He decided he'd be better off downstairs, waiting for the moment when he could take off looking for Sarah. He came down the steps quietly, just as Donovan was finishing up with Mrs. Caswell.

"Is there anything else you remember about what happened that you can tell me?" he asked, apparently still jotting down notes from his last question.

"Inspector," the Doctor interrupted, "if you're finished with me, I've got some things to see to."

"If you don't mind Doctor Smith, I'd rather you stuck around for a while. I have some questions to ask you when I'm done with Mrs. Caswell."

"Er ... sure. I'll just step out for some fresh air, I'll be back in a tick."

"If you don't mind doctor," the Inspector said, stepping between the Doctor and the door, "I'll be done here in a moment and then I'll proceed with you." He looked back at Mrs. Caswell. "Now then, can you think of anything else?"

Mrs Caswell had been wracking her brain, running through every detail she could remember. "Well, I don't know if it's important or not, but little Sarah Jane kept threatening the men that took her."

"Threatening them," he said, confused. "How does a six year old child threaten two grown men?"

"She kept telling them that when her prince found out what they were doing to her, he'd find them and they'd be very sorry when he came to rescue her."

The inspector looked over at Lavinia. "Her prince? Is that some make believe hero of hers?"

"Er ..." the Doctor said, "I'm afraid that's me."

The inspector looked at him, snorted and then laughed sarcastically. "Good thing I'm talking to you next then isn't it, Your Highness?" He handed Mrs. Caswell a card with his number on it. "Thank you Ma'am, you can go for now. If you should happen to remember anything else, please give me a call."

"That I will Sir, that I will," Mrs. Caswell smiled as she took the card then grabbed her coat and quickly headed for the door.

'Poor old dear,' thought Lavinia as she walked back into the room. It was clear to her that Mrs. Caswell had had enough for one day. Anyone could see she was still quite upset from her ordeal. "Goodbye Mrs. Caswell, best that you go home and try to rest as much as you can.

Once she had her coat on, Mrs. Caswell stuck her hat on her head and paused to say goodbye. "Good luck to you my dear. I'm sure the little lass will be home in no time now that the police are looking for her."

"Thank you," said Lavinia. "I hope that you're right."

With that the older woman headed out the door, still obviously shaken.

"Now then," said the inspector. "Let's hear from you then, Doctor, shall we?"

"I've already told the other inspector everything that I know," the Doctor said. "I came to visit Sarah for her birthday, Lavinia invited me to come along to a seance she was attending, and I did. Madame Leotta seemed a little suspicious, and when she confessed that something was going on, I dragged her along as we rushed back here. When we realized Sarah was gone, I questioned her, she told me about Kensington Station and the ransom, and then she got away from me. I chased her around the corner but she disappeared. Then I came back in here. What else do you want to know?"

"For starters, I'd like your full name, your address and your phone number," he said as he took out his pen on his notebook.

The Doctor took a deep breath, and reminded himself that he couldn't afford to make an enemy of the inspector. It would have been simpler if he could just tell him the truth. Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem, but this was one case where he did actually care if people thought he was a nutter. "Doctor John Smith, 288 Frankenstrasse, Berlin, 291-5555-206," he said, thinking that any English address he gave could be disproved much too quickly.

"You live in Berlin, Doctor?" The inspector's eyes went up in surprise. "May I see your passport and ask you what you're doing here in England?"

Once again he flashed the psychic paper at the inspector. He was about to open his mouth to say what he was doing here when he realized that he had no idea what he'd told them he did for a living the first time. "I travel a lot. Spend a lot of time here in Britain, actually."

"Very well," said the inspector copying down all the information the Doctor had given him. "I'd like to ask you why you..."

Just then the phone rang again. The inspector handed Lavinia the pad and one of the pens she gave him. "Write down as much of what's being said to you as possible. I'll write instructions back at you."

Lavinia answered the phone. "Hullo," she said as calmly as she could.

"Miss Smith, I'm sure you have already contacted the police, but if you want to see your niece again, don't tell them anything you're about to hear."


	8. Chapter 8

Lavinia nodded to the inspector and started writing what was being said.

"Now, I'm going to call you back in five minutes. The police better be gone from your house by then. If they're not, I won't call back. Good bye for now." The line went dead.

Lavinia set the phone back in it's cradle and looked over at Inspector Donavon. "He said you have to leave the house or he won't call back."

"Which means," the Doctor said, "someone's near enough to be able to tell. But we've got an advantage." He popped the device he'd placed on the handset off, then pulled out the sonic screwdriver, twisted the settings, and pointed it at the spool-sized object. "Top secret electronics," he murmured, "don't ask." After a few moments, he took the pen from the inspector's hand and started writing down numbers. "The call was too short to narrow it all the way down, but this is a list of possible extensions." He tore the page off the pad, folded it, shoved it in the inspector's pocket, and started ushering him towards the door. "Now you go straight back to the station and give them these exchanges, and see if they can track anything further. Do **not** use your radio, they may hear you and we don't want to tip them off."

"Excuse me 'Herr Doktor', but I am not paid to take orders from you. I am in charge here, not you, so kindly take your hands off me or I will have to arrest you," said the inspector coldly.

"Inspector..." - he looked at the man's badge - "Donavon, the life of a little girl is at stake here." He stepped off to the side and motioned for the Inspector to join him. The last thing Lavinia needed was to hear this. "Maggie also told me that victims who couldn't be ransomed were never seen again. Now by my reckoning you've got three and a half minutes to pull out of this driveway before you put Sarah Jane Smith on that list. I promise you, those exchanges are legitimate; nobody's called from the train station, so they may be our only lead. Now please," the Doctor said intensely, "I'm asking you very properly, go. At least until we've heard their demands."

The inspector nodded. He still didn't like being ordered around, but the Doctor seemed like the type who could make trouble for him if he wanted to. "I'm going for now, but only for the safety's sake of the child. Just make sure you stick around, because if you decide to leave town, I going to make you the chief suspect in all this." He called up the stairs. "We're leaving, let's get a move on."

The men gathered their things up quickly and headed out the door, followed by the inspector.

Lavinia watched them go then looked over at the Doctor. "She's going to be alright, isn't she," she said, her voice quivering.

"Of course she is," the Doctor said, trying to smile reassuringly as he watched them go. "And now that they're gone, we can actually try to find her." He put the tracker back on the phone, then sat Lavinia down and motioned Evelyn over. He knelt in front of Lavinia. "Now listen, I'm so sorry that I have to leave now, but I've got to go after her, and Evelyn's going to be here with you. When the kidnappers call you, you agree to everything they ask you to do, and then you call me at this number, all right?" He scribbled Martha's old mobile number on the pad. "It'll ring me wherever I am."

Lavinia hugged him impulsively, then quickly let him go when she realized what she had done. "You'll ring me as soon as you find her, won't you?"

"Absolutely," he said.

"Go and look for her then, with my blessings. Oh, and Doctor, one more thing please," said Lavinia.

"Yes?" he asked, already at the door.

"Do be careful, and remember, if anyone ever needed a prince to come to her rescue, right now, it's my little girl. I'm so glad that you're a part of her life."

The Doctor took a deep breath before he headed out the door. "So am I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plain clothes detective that had arrived just as Donavon was leaving did as he was asked; he parked down the street, and watched for a tall man leaving Lavinia Smith's house. He watched the tall man leave. He watched the tall man hurry to a Police Box. He watched the tall man open the Police Box and walk in. He watched the Police Box disappear.

He decided to go back to HQ and put a request in for a leave of absence from his job. His wife was right, he had been working much too hard, and he really did need a vacation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Doctor stood at the TARDIS console trying to think. Just a few hours ago everything had been so normal, and so perfect. He thought about the hug Sarah Jane gave him before she went to sleep, and the way her cheek felt against his. She was so trusting, and no doubt so certain that he would find her.

He slammed his fist on the console and set the controls for the South Kensington station, knowing it would only take a moment to get there. A moment that might have resulted in him catching the kidnappers if he'd just gone there instead of coming back to Lavinia's house. What was he **thinking**? Did he just get too caught up in the idea of Sarah's "normal" life?

Or was it something else?

He didn't want to think about it, but there was a little part of him that was still pretty rattled over what had happened at "Madam Leotta"'s. That voice...

He'd never been particularly close to his parents; they'd always been too strident for his tastes.

He sat down on the jump seat. That was a lie.

When he'd been smaller, his mother had always been the one to foster his ... creative side. She was in politics, and powerful, and it always seemed to give her an air of freedom, as though she could say or do anything with impunity. He'd always known he'd gotten that from her, as opposed to his father, the scholar. It seemed to rub off on him like a scent. It was only when he'd gotten older, and independent - all right, he admitted, rebellious - that relations between them had become strained.

Maybe that was what was so appealing about watching Lavinia care for Sarah Jane. To have someone watching out for you, making sure everything would be all right, it was a gift he almost envied, and it was probably why he found himself fighting so hard to maintain the "normalcy" of Sarah's life. To be back in that secure little fantasy world...

He shook his head, trying to forget about it. His mother was gone. They were all gone. He couldn't save her, couldn't save any of them. 

But there was one little girl he could save. And she was right about one thing.

When her prince arrived to rescue her, those men would be very, very sorry.

The TARDIS landed and he peeked out the door. Satisfying himself that the TARDIS was securely stowed in a storage cupboard he stepped out of the cupboard into a throng of people. He didn't see Sarah anywhere, couldn't even sense her - not that he'd expected to. There were just too many people for him to even be able to smell whether she'd been here.

He made his way over to the ticket booth. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for a man, possibly two men, with a six year old girl, who may have been putting up a fuss. Did you by any chance see them?"

The man looked up from his booth at the Doctor. "I just told the other inspector what happened a minute ago. Why don't you people talk to each other and let me do my job?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not an inspector, I'm ..." He pulled out the psychic paper. "I'm with the Transit Observation Authority, and we're working with Transit Security, checking up on how well our employees are doing spotting foul play. What did you tell the Inspector, exactly?"

The ticket taker lifted his hand up to his head and scratched it. His hat bobbed up and down as he scratched and thought. "Well," he started. "He asked about the men and the little girl and I told them that I saw two men and one was carrying what looked to be a little girl wrapped up in a blanket. Just as they purchased their tickets for travel zone one, a woman came up to them all of a sudden looking very upset. She said something to them and they exchanged the tickets they just bought for ones on the Piccadilly Line and they all got on that one when it arrived."

The Doctor tried to keep his expression neutral. "Did you hear them say anything about where they were going?"

The man shook his head. "Couldn't hear what they said, but I can tell you that they were on the westbound Piccadilly when it left."

The Doctor nodded. "The little girl. Was she all right?"

"I couldn't see much of her. The blanket was covering part of her face. From what I could tell though, she seemed to be a little flushed, and she wasn't happy about being here either, I can tell you that. She was trying to pull away from the man holding her, but the woman said something to her that set her straight and she behaved after that."

The Doctor got descriptions of everyone concerned and thanked the ticket agent. He sprinted back to the TARDIS, both hearts pounding. Yes, Maggie had been right, but there were few things more dangerous than a botched kidnapping. He slammed the TARDIS door behind him just as the phone in his pocket began to ring. "Lavinia?"

"Yes Doctor, it's me. The kidnappers just called."


	9. Chapter 9

"And?"

"They said they're going to call several more times, and I should stay by the phone. Each call is going to have an instruction for me to follow," she said. He could clearly hear her unspoken worry. "What should I do, Doctor?"

"Just do what you have to do, to make sure they know that you're giving them your full cooperation. And if they ask for money, tell them you'll get it, no matter how much it is. If we need it, we'll have it." He mentally cataloged a few "antiques" and other valuables he had stored away in the TARDIS. "But tell them it'll take some time to get it. Just keep them happy until we can track them down, and on that note," he said going around the corner and away from the ticket taker who had been staring at him and the cell phone with his mouth agape. "I need you to pull the tracker off the back of the handset and hold it up to the mouthpiece. When I say 'now', I want you to push the little metal button on the top, all right?" He pushed a few buttons on the console, then held the phone up to a sensor. "Now!" he said, loud enough for her to hear it.

The readouts scrolled slowly as it recorded - much more slowly than they should have. The 1956 telephone system had too much noise to transmit the sensitive data accurately. The Doctor growled and snatched up the phone, setting new coordinates for the TARDIS with his other hand. "Lavinia, I'm going to have to come back and get that data, in the meantime, I've got a lead," he said, "I'll let you know what happens."

He hung up quickly, not waiting for an answer. The police would undoubtedly be at the next station the Picadilly line reached, and if he was going to save Sarah before they had a chance to botch this any more, he was going to have to get there first. And that meant he had to land the TARDIS at the correct point in time, in an inconspicuous place, on a moving train. "Come on, girl," he murmured, stroking the console, "for Sarah Jane."

The TARDIS landed with a thud and he opened the door to see that he was in the lavatory. 'Thank goodness this door opens inwards,' he thought as he emerged, immediately scanning the passengers as he moved through the car.

It was in the third and final car the he spotted them, two men and a woman traveling with a little girl wrapped up in a blanket, as though she were ill. He couldn't see Sarah's face, but she was breathing gently, he could tell that. They didn't seem to be armed, but he wanted to make sure they hadn't quieted Sarah by threatening to surreptitiously shoot her or something. A slow walk by them, then a turn at the end of the aisle as though he'd forgotten something, and a good look satisfied him that there was no hair trigger aimed at the blanket.

He took a deep breath and swooped in. "I'll have that, thank you," he said, grabbing the bundled girl.

The woman who was holding the child looked up and started screaming. "My baby, he's taken my daughter! Get the conductor and tell him to call the police," she cried. "He's a kidnapper, don't let him off this train!"

The two men with the woman jumped up and each of them grabbed the Doctor by and arm and held him fast.

Then the little girl awoke and started crying. "I want my mummy."

The Doctor looked down and realized, horrified, that the little girl wasn't Sarah Jane. "But..." he sputtered as she took the child from him, "you were at Kensington. You ..." he shook his head. "Sorry, I ... um... Misunderstanding. Big misunderstanding." As he considered what it would take to break free and sprint for the TARDIS, something occurred to him. "Why would you wrap your daughter up in a blanket and take her on a train?"

The women hugged her daughter close to her. "You first," she said as she saw his surprise. "Why did you grab her from me that way?"

"Because I'm chasing a kidnapped six year old, last seen wrapped in a blanket and headed for Kensington," he growled. "Now you."

The woman's mouth fell open for a moment and then she turned to one of the men. "You see? I told you something wasn't right about this. I never trusted that man to begin with. I just hope we don't get pinched for this." Then she turned to the Doctor. "Look Mister, we don't know anything about a child being stolen. We were just trying to make a few extra quid, that's all. We don't want any trouble." She looked up at the man she had spoken to before. "Let the gentleman go Sid." "What man?" the Doctor asked, rubbing his bruised arms. The train would be getting to the station in less than a minute, and he didn't want to be here when it did. "Quickly, what man?"

"The man who paid us. We're actors. A few days ago, after the afternoon performance of the play we're all in, a gentleman came back stage and offered us a very generous amount of money to wrap little Susie here in a blanket and take the ten o'clock east bound Picadilly from Kensington. My brother Bruce there bought the wrong tickets at first, and Susie put up a bit of a fuss, so I promised her a lolly if she behaved. Other than that though, you have to admit it was a good performance. We didn't know we were getting involved in anything illegal Sir. We're as honest as the sky is blue and that's a fact. Ask anyone who knows us."

The Doctor didn't have time to argue, but they seemed to be telling the truth. "What was his name, and what did he look like? Quickly!"

"He said his name was Roscoe Blevins. He was about five foot nine, he had black hair, a thick black bushy mustache and glasses and he sounded like he had a cold or something. His voice was all raspy-like," said the woman as the train started to pull into the station.

"Great, thank you!" he said, glancing at the brace of police on the platform as he sprinted back down the aisle and into the lavatory, slamming the TARDIS doors behind him and dematerializing as fast as he could.

As the train pulled to a complete stop, policemen rushed into both door ordering everyone to stay where they were. When they came upon the actors with the child still wrapped in a blanket they ordered them to stand up and come quietly with them.

"We didn't do anything wrong," said the woman with fear. "I told the other policeman that and he let us go."

The policemen looked at each other. "What other policeman?" one asked.

"The one that was just here questioning us. He went over to the next car in a real hurry just as the train was coming into the station."

"What did he look like?"

"He was kind of tall and thin, short brown hair, brown eyes and he was wearing a dark blue pin striped suit." He was running though so you better hurry if you want to catch him."

PC Franklin left his compatriots to take statements and took off for the next car, and when he didn't see anyone fitting that description, he headed for the third car. Still not seeing anyone, he said to the curious passengers, "Excuse me, this is police business. I'm looking for a tall thin man in a blue suit. I know nobody's gotten off this train, so have you seen him?"

A little heavy set woman with gray hair tugged on his sleeve. "I saw him. And I can tell you, he must not be feeling very well, because he ran into the loo and he hasn't come out yet." The elderly woman pointed to the door marked WC that the Doctor practically leapt into as he rushed passed her.

Franklin knocked on the lavatory door. "Excuse me, sir, I need you to come out now, please." He waited a few moments. "This is police business, so if you could answer." Again, no answer. He tried the handle and found that the door was unlocked, and the tiny room was empty. A small round window led to the outside, but it was much too small for him to have escaped that way. He turned back to the passengers. "Well, he's not here now, and he didn't flush himself down the loo to escape, so where is he?" he asked accusingly.

Several passengers agreed that they'd seen the man enter the lavatory, but not come out.

"And he was definitely sick," one man said, "because we heard the most awful sound coming from there. Almost a grinding kind of groan."

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and ran to Lavinia's front door, knocking insistently. He was pretty sure that 'Roscoe Blevins' was a false name - anybody who'd thought to set up this whole diversion couldn't be that stupid - so his tracker was the only real lead they had.

Lavinia opened the door and the Doctor rushed past her to the phone.

"What's happened, Doctor?" she asked as she followed him as quickly as she could. "Has something gone wrong? Did you find out anything?"

"Er ... no," he said, pointing the sonic at the tracker. "I was afraid it had, but it was just a ruse," he said distractedly. "Blast it!" he finally said. The problem hadn't been noise in the line, it was that they were calling from somewhere outside the normal phone system, from a different location than the first call.

"Well I know that can't be good. What is it, Doctor?"

He debated what to tell her. "They're on the move. I can't get fix on them this time." He sat down heavily.

Lavinia looked as if she might cry, but she managed to hold it in. "My poor baby, she must be so frightened. She's such a little thing and so spunky. I can't stop thinking about what could go wrong, no matter how hard I try to stay positive." She sat down in the chair next to the Doctor. "I thought it best to cancel my lecture. It's only three days away and I couldn't go through with it if we don't have Sarah Jane back, and when she is back, I don't want to leave her so soon after her return." She smiled feebly. "In fact, I'm quite sure I'll never want to let her out of my sight again."

"I know exactly how you feel," the Doctor said. He stood and began to pace, then forced himself to stop and sit down again. He needed to take a moment and breathe; he'd been running on high octane since the moment Maggie had confessed something was going on. "So what was the lecture about?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"The need for the Asian flu to be taken seriously. We're just starting to see cases here, but there seems to be this institutional refusal to accelerate vaccine development." She started to pace. "I've recently become convinced that an influenza that killed over a million Russians in the 1880s flu has evolved, so to speak, into a different strain now being passed off as a the Asian flu. But you see, there isn't really any new virus, it's the same one and it changes as it spreads from one area to another. There is a new vaccine, but nobody seems to be pushing for it." She sat back down, discouraged. "If it's stopped now, before the virus mutates enough to be immune to it we can slow down it's migration," she sighed. "It's really fascinating and vital work Doctor, but what kind of person am I that I can even think about that right now?"

He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "You're a good person, Lavinia, and that kind of thing is important." He stood again, once again pacing. "So they didn't tell you when they're going to call back, then?"

She shook her head. "Sadly, no." She sighed, "I never thought I'd say this, but this house is just too quiet."

He nodded. "Definitely." He took a deep breath and rubbed his face. "All right, then. I'll be right back." He took a jog to the TARDIS and rummaged around, looking for a better tracker. Or maybe he was trying to distract himself from the knowledge that there wasn't much he could do. He let the TARDIS work on 'Roscoe Blevins' and the description to see whether she could come up with anything, and headed back into the house. "OK, better tracker," he said, using the sonic to cut the phone line and splice the new device into it.

Lavinia stared at him while he worked. "What is that you're doing Doctor? I must say that whatever it is, I'm intrigued by it."

"It's a bit more sophisticated than this thing," he said, pulling the tracker off the handset. "And it'll automatically send the information it gathers in for analysis."

Lavinia frowned. "I don't wish to question your methods Doctor, but f it's so much better, then why didn't you use it to begin with?"

He looked up from what he was doing. "Well, I don't carry this kind of thing in my pocket, you know. This," he said, holding up the tracker he'd had on the phone, "should have been able to do the job. And it would have, but the call is coming from somewhere outside the normal phone lines. So we have to dig a little deeper. And speaking of digging deeper," he continued, wanting to get out of this conversation before she started asking where he had gotten the device, "if you don't mind I'd like to check out Sarah's room to see if there's anything that might help."

"Feel free to look about Doctor, perhaps you'll find some clue that the police may have missed. Would you like some tea? I was just about to make a pot."

"Tea would be lovely, thank you," he said, and headed up the steps.

"I'll let you when it's ready," she called up to him. Lavinia walked into the kitchen and tried to make herself busy.

Sarah's room was, in so many ways, a typical little girl's room. Pink was everywhere, and stuffed animals occupied every surface. But every surface seemed to be covered with a light dusting of graphite, punctuated by squares of clean where prints had been lifted. The mattress had been pulled partly off the bed when she'd been grabbed, her stuffed owl Elizabeth lying forlorn on the floor, as though waiting for Sarah to return.

Careful not to touch anything, he looked around the bed to see if anything at all had been dropped, or torn free, or something, but if there had been any evidence, the police had taken it with them. The same was true of the dresser, and the small shelf of books that seemed more advanced than the typical six year old would read. But then, this was hardly a typical six year old, of course.

He looked at the mirror, smiling at the combination of magazine pictures of baby animals and flowers, and hand-drawn masterpieces taped to most of the surface. A drawing of the TARDIS adorned the mirror behind the Metabelis Angel's place of honor on her dresser, and next to a picture that could only have been the two of them, holding hands, both wearing crowns.

He stared at the picture.

He had to do something.

He stormed down the stairs. "Lavinia, I've got to take care of something. I'll be back," he said as he walked out the door and back to the TARDIS.

He headed into the TARDIS interior, past the bedrooms, past the boot cupboard, past the library, past a great many rooms, to one he really didn't like to use.

"I don't think you told me everything," he said to Maggie, who looked miserable in the force-shield cell.


	10. Chapter 10

Maggie stood up and pressed her hands to her heart. "I did, I told you everything, I swear it. May I be struck by lightning if I didn't."

The Doctor knelt next to her, on the other side of the force shield. "Kensington was a wild goose chase, and **you **are the one who sent me off on it. So you'd better tell me **now**, anything and everything you know about these people."

"I told you, they just hired me to be a front. All I know besides that is that they're professional kidnappers. Other than a description of them, that's all I can tell you." She put her head down and sighed. "Please let me out. I'm of no use to you any more."

The Doctor felt his temper rising, but he wasn't sure whether he was more angry at Maggie or himself. "I want names, dates, locations, vehicle descriptions, every single thing you can remember. **Now**."

"I'm trying really hard to remember, but this whole business has got me good and spooked." She ran a hand over her head nervously. "Right then, I spoke with a man called Blevins. Big burly fellow, big black mustache, like it was too big for his face. I'm don't remember what he was driving. A black Wolseley, I think. I swear I have no idea what the plates said. Three-nine something, but I don't remember if it was the start or the end. I mean, it was a month ago, I'm lucky I remember that."

The Doctor considered what she'd said. There had to be more she could remember. There just had to be. "Maggie, would you consider putting yourself into a trance to try and remember more information? Like maybe the whole number plate?"

"What, after the way that spirit was able to me over like that? Not on you're Nellie, mister."

The Doctor hadn't considered the possibility of his mother re-emerging. On that score, he wasn't sure whether he was more disappointed in her answer or relieved. But there were bigger questions at stake. "So you're never going to go into a trance again?"

"Not until I can take steps to make sure that never happens again with that spirit," Maggie shivered at the thought.

"Look, I understand how you feel, but this is really important. A little girl's life is at stake here. I just want you to try and remember that number plate."

"I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. However, you have to make me a promise."

"What's that?" he asked warily.

"When I enter the trance, if that spirit starts to enter me, you need to call my name out and keep repeating it until I come round."

The Doctor considered what she was asking. "I promise to try," he said, not at all sure he'd be able to follow through with it, should it come up.

Maggie shook her head adamantly. "You have to do better than try, or I'm not doing it. I don't want to see anyone hurt, much less a child, but I have no intention of letting an unfriendly spirit take over my body."

"All right," the Doctor growled. "I promise. Now **do **it."

Maggie closed her eyes and started to rub her forehead. "I'm going to make myself relax now," she said. "Don't say anything unless I start to sound or act strangely."

The Doctor took a deep breath and tried to make **himself **relax.

Maggie's breathing started to slow down a bit and her head rested on her chest. "I see a car, the plates say three nine sev... Theta, you must listen to me," she said as her voice took on his mother's voice.

He'd thought that the choice would be more difficult, but considering what he really needed right now, it wasn't. "Maggie," he said firmly. "Maggie, can you hear me?" Part of him wanted to scream at her. Couldn't she see that he was doing something important? "Maggie," he said again.

Her body began to grown tense, and after a minute she was able to come out of the trance. She looked over at the Doctor as her eyes slowly opened. "I'm sorry, I just can't do that again without taking steps to protect myself."

The Doctor wanted to just rip the information out of her mind. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried to control himself. It wasn't Maggie's fault; even if she did go back into the trance, it seemed they wouldn't get the information he wanted. He pushed his anger back and tried to ignore it. "Was there anything else you can remember?"

"That's it, I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do for you," she said rubbing her head. "Oh, I've got such a headache now."

"Maggie," the Doctor said seriously, "If you're lying to me, you're going to be very, very sorry."

"I'm sorry already," she snorted. "Sorry I ever saw any of the bloody lot of you."

As before, it seemed to the Doctor that she was telling the truth. Which was a shame, for two reasons. First, he almost wanted her to be lying to justify the anger brewing in him, but secondly, and more important, because it meant that there wasn't much more she could do to help.

There was no point in calling Donavan. The police would already know about Belvins, and the description of the car was too vague to justify having to explain where the got the information in the first place. He sighed. Another few years and he could have just called Alastair for help. Of course, then he would be risking calling while his second self was there. As though he weren't playing with enough fire. He rubbed his eyes. It was academic, anyway. It was 1957, and UNIT hadn't been formed yet. He ran through other options. A couple of years earlier he could have called on Winston, but he was still recovering from the stroke he'd suffered the previous February. The Doctor would just have to work with what he had.

Without another word, he went back to the console room to think, pushing back thoughts of his mother to concentrate on Sarah Jane. Immediately, he saw the sensor flashing, having recorded a call from right here in South Croyden. He whipped out Martha's phone and dialed Lavinia. "What happened?" he asked as soon as she answered. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't call because the call wasn't about the kidnapping," said Lavinia, sobbing. The Doctor could tell that she was reaching the end of her rope. "It was Sarah Jane's etiquette class. They are canceling lessons for a while because several of the children in her class have come down with influenza. Now on top of everything else, I'm worried that Sarah Jane could be ill too, with nobody to even care for her. Why haven't they called, Doctor? I just want this over and to have her home and-" She stopped for a moment as he heard the doorbell ring. "Doctor, Inspector Roberts is here, hold on."

"No, don't tie up the line," the Doctor said. "I'll call you back." He hung up, trying to remember whether Sarah had ever mentioned having the Asian Flu as a child. Lavinia was right about one thing; Asian flu would be an epidemic. And it would be arriving in the UK right about ... now.

* * *

Inspector Roberts didn't look much like a police inspector in his workmen's clothes, but after that first call from the kidnappers, he'd thought it best to be somewhat circumspect. Immediately when Miss Smith came to the door, however, he was glad he'd risked coming. "What's wrong?" he asked, leading her back inside.

Lavinia told him about the fact that Sarah Jane could be ill. She tried not to cry but she was worried and scared. "Why hasn't anyone been able to find her yet, Inspector? Have your men even got a clue as to where she is or who's got her?"

"We're working on that," Roberts said, guiding her to a chair. "We thought we had her, near Kensington, but it turned out to be a diversion." He shook his head. "A strange one, at that. The people involved reported being questioned by someone who fits the Doctor's description, but unless he sprouted wings and learned to fly, I don't see how he could have gotten there that quickly." He looked over to the phone. "What happened to that do-dad the he put on the phone?"

"No luck so far. This is a new one though, he had to replace the other. He says this one is more sophisticated than the last one. He's still hoping he can find out where Sarah Jane is with this one."

Roberts looked at the box spliced into the phone line. It was the kind of thing that made an investigator suspicious. "So where is he now, then?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, but I do know that wherever he is he's doing everything he can to find Sarah Jane. That's the kind of man he is," said Lavinia defensively.

"How long ago did he leave?" Roberts asked.

"Just a few minutes ago."

Roberts could see she was getting agitated, and it was the last thing that he wanted. "Miss Smith, you don't need to worry about the Doctor. I'm not considering him a suspect. We've gotten Maggie's full name from the person who rented her the house for the seance and we've got an arrest warrant out for her. I just wanted to come by to see if there was anything else you could tell us that you didn't have time to say before the kidnappers called."

"I wish there was. Believe me I've racked my brain and I can't think of a single thing." Lavinia wrung her hands. "What if the people that have her don't know how to care for a child who's ill? She could have a very high fever and they might not even notice it." Lavinia was pacing now. "She could be lying somewhere and just getting worse with no comfort or medical attention. It's all my fault, I should never have left her to go to that silly seance. If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself."

Roberts had worked four kidnappings in his career, and in every single one of them, he'd heard almost the exact refrain he was hearing now. "Miss Smith, I know that that's how you feel right now, but you have to realize that you didn't do anything wrong. It's not like you left Sarah Jane alone, you left her with a responsible adult you've known for years. This is not your fault. It's the kidnappers' fault, and we're going to find them and bring Sarah Jane back to you safe and sound. You have to believe that." He pulled two tissues from the box and handed them to her. "You have to believe that because you need to pull yourself together. The next time the kidnappers call, I'm going to need you to ask to talk to Sarah Jane so we can make sure she's all right."


	11. Chapter 11

"I don't like you at all. You're a bad man and you're going to be very very sorry. Just you wait, you'll see." Sarah Jane said.

"Oh, I know, I know," he mocked her. "Your prince is coming to save you and when he gets here he's going to punish all of us. I'm shaking in my shoes just thinking about it." The man gestured with his hand, sweeping it around the room. "So, where is this prince of yours, your majesty?" He stroked her hair, laughing as she tried to avoid him. "You're the one that's getting a big surprise soon, deary. Just wait till you see what's going to happen to you. Once your Auntie gives us the money we're asking her for, you're going on quite a trip. Isn't she Alfie?"

"Don't scare the kid, George," Alfie said, still looking out the window. "I just want her to go to sleep." He turned to Sarah. "Look, girlie, nothing's going to happen, just lie back down on the cot like a good little girl, all right?"

Sarah eyed him for a moment. "If I go to sleep, do you promise to leave me alone?"

"I promise, nobody will bother you." He motioned for George to leave her alone. "Just go to sleep."

Sarah pretended to yawn, then put her head down on the pillow and pulled the blanket over her. Her head hurt, and she shivered as she turned her face towards the wall so they couldn't see her. She wasn't about to let them see how afraid she was, but tears began to roll down her cheek. "Please, oh please come and rescue me, Doctor," she said in a whisper, as if she were praying. "I'm ever so scared and these men are very bad. I want to go home." She cried softly to herself, until finally when she couldn't fight it anymore, she did fall asleep.

George smiled at his partner. "This one is pretty, not like the last one. She'll go for a good price. I'd say at least twice what we got for the other one."

"Assuming," Alfie said, finally stepping away from the window, "that nothing's gone wrong. I still don't like that there was an extra face over at that medium's place. I don't like surprises."

"You worry too much, Alfie," said George. "The Aunt's cooperating. As soon as we get the money, we'll drop the girl off, get paid for her, and leave for parts unknown. The dosh from this job should allow us to lay low in style for quite a long time."

* * *

The Doctor stared at the console sensor readout bay, as though he could will the call to come in. He kept thinking about what he'd seen in Sarah Jane's room. On the one hand, it was so disjointed, so disruptive, so ... traumatic. But underneath, it was so normal, so typical of what you might see in a little girl's room. He had to hand it to Lavinia; Sarah was a handful, he knew that from personal experience. But somehow she'd managed to break through all that and be the family that Sarah needed.

And that was what it was all about, wasn't it? Family was family, no matter what. Even when they're gone, he mused. He wanted so badly to believe that his mother was really looking out for him, and not just trying once again to interfere in his life. It would be so much easier if he could just ... what? Cut her off altogether? No, he knew he couldn't do that; even if she was gone, even if she was ... doing whatever it was she was doing, he still loved her. Because love never dies.

On the other hand, he reminded himself, here he was trying to find Sarah Jane, and just when Maggie seemed to be getting somewhere ...

He couldn't focus on that now. He had to focus on Sarah Jane. His mind raced through all sorts of scenarios, and none of them were good. Why Sarah Jane, of all people? Lavinia wasn't poor, but she was hardly wealthy. And so far, they weren't even asking for money. Why weren't they asking for money? He sat down heavily. Maybe it wasn't about Lavinia at all. Maybe whoever took Sarah was trying to get to him. Could it be aliens?

Which of his enemies could have pulled this off, he wondered. The Daleks? They knew about Sarah, but how could they have found her? And kidnapping? Not really their style. He could see the Master doing something like this, but he was dead, he'd died in the Doctor's arms.

* * *

The Doctor had been staring at the sensor readout, watching as the TARDIS narrowed down the location of the call. He answered Martha's phone on the first ring. "Lavinia?" He began setting the TARDIS coordinates.

"Doctor, they called again just now and I got to talk to Sarah Jane for just a moment."

"Was she all right? What did she say?"

"She seemed alright, but she was clearly frightened and she was crying for you," said Lavinia.

The Doctor took a deep breath. "It's all right, we're going to find her and bring her home. I've narrowed it down to just a couple of blocks in Portsmouth. Put the inspector on the phone, will you?"

Lavinia turned to the inspector and handed him the phone. "He wants to talk to you," she said.

Roberts picked up the phone, anxious to see what the Doctor's device had found. "This is Inspector Roberts."

"This is the Doctor. The tracer on the phone has tracked the call to the circle between White Swan Road, Richard I Road, and Guildhall Walk. I could use a few extra eyes, but discreet ones."

"Of course, you realize I will have to clear this with Inspector Donavon, don't you? I can't just go on your word," he said, thinking ahead to calling this in.

"Yes, of course," the Doctor said, trying very hard not to grit his teeth. "But whatever you're going to do, please do it quickly; there's no telling whether they're going to move her."

"Very well, I'll ring up the station at once." With that, the inspector hung up the phone and dialed his superior. "Inspector Roberts here, I need to speak to Inspector Donovan please."

"Donovan here," he answered after the call had been transferred.

"Sir, it's Roberts. We've had another call from the kidnappers."

"Excellent, tell me everything,"

Roberts relayed the events of the call to him.

"Good work Roberts, keep on it," said Donavon.

"There's one more thing Sir, I spoke to called the Doctor. He's says that he knows where the kidnappers could be and requested that we have a few men watch the area, very discreet like."

* * *

"Yes, I have met the man, " sighed Donavon. "I told him he's absolutely no authority to order any one involved in this case about. However, I'm willing to look into any lead we get at this point. Give me the location and carry on as you've been instructed." Once he had the information, Donavon hung up the phone, mumbling to himself about intruders mucking about in his business. He decided not to take any chances with the Doctor. He was going to go handle this himself. He grabbed his coat and headed out the door.

* * *

Lavinia turned to Roberts as he hung up the phone. "Do you think we're any closer to finding Sarah Jane," she asked, hope in her voice.

Roberts stared at the phone for a few moments. He'd been handling cases like for a long time, and he was worried. "Yes, I do," he said distractedly, knowing she'd heard what he'd told Donovan. His instincts told him something wasn't right, even though he couldn't put a finger on what that was. The missing little girl had been fine when they got the phone call, but something about this kidnapping just seemed wrong, and that troubled him. "Miss Smith, if you don't mind, I need to go do a little bit of checking, all right?"


	12. Chapter 12

Lavinia looked at him, concerned. "Inspector Roberts, my little girl's life is at stake, if there's anything you can do to rescue her, you needn't bother to ask."

He smiled and put on his coat. "Believe me, Miss Smith, I'm going to personally see to it that nothing goes wrong." He headed out the door, determined to make sure that Sarah Jane Smith didn't become another Mylene Flynn, another nightmare scenario keeping him up at night.

Lavinia watched him leave and as soon as she shut the door, she ran for the phone.

"Lavinia? What's wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"Inspector Roberts left the house just now. He didn't say anything, Doctor, but I got the feeling that he thinks something's wrong. What are we going to do?"

The Doctor considered what she'd told him. "We're going to find Sarah Jane. Just sit tight, everything's going to be fine."

"I'll try, but I'm sure you understand how difficult that is right now. Good luck, Doctor."

The Doctor said goodbye and hung up. He hoped that help was on the way. It wasn't going to be easy for him to him to search a six block stretch of road filled with ... he peeked out the TARDIS door... blocks of flats. It figured.

He took a deep breath. There had to be a way. If he were tracking an alien, it would be simple; he had sensors for that. But searching a city full of humans for one little human girl ...

If he just headed out and started canvasing, he was likely to spook the kidnappers, and with such a large area he might not even know it. He needed more direction.

He headed back into the bowels of the TARDIS.

Maggie looked even more miserable than she had before as the Doctor approached her. "Maggie, we've got a problem."

"We," she spat at him. "My only problem is I'm being held against my will. I don't bloody care about your problems, mate."

He sat down next to the force shield. "My problems are your problems, Maggie, and the sooner my problems are solved the sooner yours are."

"I'll help you as soon as you let me go," she banged her hand against the force shield and pulled it back quickly when the sound of it rang loudly in her ears.

The Doctor took a deep breath. "And if I'd done that the first time, you wouldn't have been here when I found out you'd either lied to me, or been lied to. And if I'd done that the second time, you wouldn't be here now. So if you want to get out of here, you'll help me find Sarah Jane. As soon as I've got her, you're free to go. I have no desire to be a jailer, believe me."

"I told you everything, what else can I do?"

He leaned in close to the force shield. "You, Maggie, can use whatever skills you've got to give me some kind of lead."

Maggie pulled herself up and stared deeply at him for a while. "I told you I can't help you like that anymore, it isn't safe for me, so I can't help you even if I wanted to."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Maggie, you gave me a message from somebody who's so far gone she technically never existed. I can help you protect yourself. I can enhance your gift if you're willing to use it to help me find Sarah Jane, the little girl who was kidnapped."

"I'm willing, but only if you're sure I can protect myself. " she said firmly.

"All right, then." The Doctor pulled out the sonic and used it to turn off the force shield.

Maggie walked towards him, eying the door behind him. She debated whether or not to make a run for it. She didn't. She wanted to see what if anything he could teach her and perhaps then, she'd try to get away. "Right," she said, focusing on his face. "Let's see what you can show me."

Without warning the Doctor put a hand to each side of her face. He didn't like forcing his way in like that, and went out of his way to intrude as little as possible. But if he was going to get at the parts of her mind that needed... tweaking, he had to get through her defenses before she could raise them.

Maggie stiffened for a moment and then her eyes grew wider and her mouth dropped open. "Oh Lord," she said her voice quivering. "What's happening to me?"

"Sorry," the Doctor said sincerely. "Hang about, I'll be done in just a moment." He withdrew as gently as he could.

She backed away from him slightly, a look of fear in her eyes. "I don't know what just happened," she said. "But there's much more going on than meets the eye. Who are you, where are you from, and where am I?"

"I'm the Doctor, I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous, and you're in the bowels of my spaceship," he said simply.

"What are you going to do to me? I warn you, if you try to dissect me or something like that, I'll never tell you where that little girl is. If she even is a little girl," she said, trying to sound brave.

The Doctor sat down on the bench and put his feet up, then changed his mind and put them down on the floor again. "Listen, under any other circumstances, I'd love to engage in some terribly witty banter about how I don't look like an alien, and I'm not a threat, so on and so forth, but I'm afraid we really don't have a lot of time here. Because she is, indeed, a very little girl." He leaned towards her. "And I am definitely a threat."

"Look, I don't give a well digger's shovel if you really are 'a strange visitor from another planet'. And if that's the truth, then you had better hurry up and go change into your tights and cape and save her, because you're not getting any help from me."

The Doctor was not amused by the reference. He plastered a smile on his face, stood, and walked towards the door, turning the force shield back on. "Enjoy your stay."

Maggie felt her new skills kick in and they terrified her. She could feel the anger rolling off her captor. "Wait, come back, I'm sorry. I'll do anything I can to help you, I promise."

He stopped at the door, composing himself, then turned and glared at her with a look that could only come from one once called the 'Oncoming Storm'.

Maggie shrank back, cringing with fear as he drew close to her. She almost lost her balance, but quickly caught herself before she fell. She swallowed hard, then pulled herself up and stared back boldly into his cold eyes. She remembered hearing somewhere that if you were about to be attacked, never to show fear. "I'll need something that belongs to her," she said with false bravado. "If you have some of her clothing, or a a toy, anything she's been emotionally close to, it will help me to find her. Jewelery works especially well if you have it."

He lowered the force shield and pulled the chain from his neck, revealing the tiny ring Sarah Jane had given him when he'd brought her home to Lavinia's. Wordlessly, he took it off the chain and handed it to Maggie.

He'd given the medium all the help that he could when it came to resisting intrusion by his mother; now it was up to her. He just hoped that he could get what he needed before any interruptions.

Maggie took the ring in her hands and closed her eyes. "I see what looks like a warehouse, no, wait, it's more like a flat, but the walls are gone. There are two men there, and they seem to be planning something. Now I see the little girl, she's in a corner of the room, she's crying, and she's afraid. She's not hurt, but something is very wrong with her. I sense that she's ill, she's feverish and coughing. I see..." Suddenly Maggie's body grew stiff. Her facial expression changed and the pupils of her eyes became dilated. She opened her eyes and stared at the Doctor. "My son, why do you waste your time this way? You must prepare yourself for the trouble that is to come."

"Mother," the Doctor said warily. He'd been prepared for her to interrupt; he hadn't been prepared for her to drop a bomb like that. "What is to come?"

"Events are being set in motion that will be cataclysmic throughout the Universe. What you are doing now is trivial. You need to leave this planet at once. Leave there immediately and go meditate on what is to come so that the knowledge you need will become clear to you."

The Doctor felt a wave of emotions wash over him. On the one hand, he was filled with guilt over what had happened to his mother, and he longed to hear, well, anything from her. But the things she was saying... he felt a seething anger rising up within him. "What I'm doing now is just as important as anything else going on in the universe. More important, in fact. I'm not going to let Sarah Jane die just because you say so. The 'momentous events' of the Time Lords are just going to have to wait," he spat.

Her voice grew sad, though somewhat firm. "You have always rebelled against our ways, saying that we placed ourselves above others by only observing the events of time. It is **you** who are arrogant, Theta. You dare to interfere with matters that do not involve you. The course of time is not your plaything, my son. One day you will pay dearly for your conceit." Maggie's face returned to normal. The connection had been severed.

The Doctor felt his hearts pounding, her words echoing in his ears. Was she talking about Sarah Jane? Or Adelaide Brook? Part of him felt a surge of fear, like a child who's parents had just discovered he's been skipping school. He tried to talk himself out of it, but the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, until finally he saw it all, and panic gripped him so hard he felt sick.

His mother, and all of Gallifrey, were locked in the Time War. There was no way she could be communicating with him, psychic link or not. Unless his tampering with fixed events had weakened the very framework of the causal nexus to the point where nothing could be assumed.

Not even the continued existence of Sarah Jane Smith.


	13. Chapter 13

Maggie stood there trying to compose herself. She was dazed by what had occurred. Still, she could see that the color had drained from the Doctor's face. She didn't need to be psychic to know something had just gone terribly wrong.

The Doctor grabbed Sarah's ring from Maggie, re-set the force shield, and ran from the room.

* * *

Sarah Jane sat with her head propped up on the cot, coughing as she stared longingly at the window in the corner of the room. She could see out of it, but not much. Just enough that she could tell that they weren't on the lower floors of the building. Sometimes a bird would fly close enough for her to see it. Other times, she could watch for more than an hour and nothing would happen. She comforted herself by imagining what would happen when the Doctor found her. He would swoop into the room and vanquish the two men guarding her. He'd make them pay for taking her away. Then he'd get down on his knees and open his arms up and scoop her into them. She was going to smother him with hugs and kisses when he finally showed up. She'd daydream like this, then look over at the two men with a vengeance in her eyes.

George nudged Alfie. "She's doing it again."

Alfie sighed and went over to sit down on the cot. "Why don't you just go back to sleep?"

"I'm not tired," she glared at him.

"Yes, but the more you sleep, the sooner your prince will get here," he said, his patience wearing thin.

"Oh, he'll be here soon whether I go to sleep or not. Did I tell you that he's stronger than Robin Hood," she said smiling confidently.

"Look, kid, I really don't care. But if you want to stare at something, stare at the wall, or the window, or anything, just not at George, hey?"

Sarah started coughing again as she turned over and faced the wall. Her sides and her back were beginning to ache and the coughing just made it worse.

"She doesn't sound good Alfie," said George as he watched her. "Maybe we should get rid of her now."

"Not until we get the money from the Aunt." He looked over at Sarah as she coughed. She really didn't sound very good at all. "Maybe you should go out and get her something for that hacking while I stay here and keep an eye on her."

"I don't know what to get, you go out instead," replied George.

Alfie looked at George and then over at Sarah Jane. George had been his partner for years, but he wasn't about to leave him alone with a six year old girl. "No, you'll go, but I'll write down what you should ask the chemist for." He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the name of some cough syrup he was familiar with and handed it to him. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins and mentally counted them. "Here's ten and six, that ought to cover it. Just hurry back, right?"

George looked over at Sarah, then at Alfie and sighed. He knew from experience that it was better not to argue with him, so he took the note along with the money and left.

* * *

The Doctor paced back and forth in the control room, trying to get hold of himself. Although he hated to admit it, he had until now been operating under the subconscious assumption that ultimately, Sarah Jane would be fine; after all, she already had been fine, in the convoluted way that time travelers tended to think about things. But while he knew that everything he did in his life changed the future relative to where he was standing, he tended to regard his relationship with Sarah as one of those "fixed" events that couldn't be changed. Maybe he was right; maybe he was just being romantic. Either way, this conversation with his mother made him realize that fixed or not, he could very well be careening into a time stream in which Sarah Jane Smith died in 1956.

Maggie hadn't been able to give him much of a lead at all, which left him back at the task of searching a city full of humans for one little human girl.

He stood stock still as a realization hit him. 

One little human girl **_who had traveled through time_**.

He rummaged through a box of gadgets until he found the one he was looking for. Switching it on, he adjusted the sensitivity up as far as it would go. The perturbations to the vortex from Sarah's presence would be minuscule, but they should be detectable. Now he just had to find her.

He bolted out of the TARDIS, grateful that for once, her traditional shape would actually blend in. The sensor in his hand blinked placidly, not yet detecting anything. Like it or not, he was going to have to canvass the area, hoping to get close enough for it to pick up the temporal ripples that surrounded Sarah, but at least he didn't have to talk to anybody to find her. He put on an "official" air, as though he were searching for a gas leak, and started down the sidewalk in front of each of the blocks of flats.

* * *

Meanwhile, Inspector Donovan was walking the same area. He looked around carefully, senses heightened, keenly aware of everything and everyone he passed.

Suddenly the Doctor emerged from around the corner, staring at a tri-cornered device flashing in his hand. He spotted Donovan instantly, but said nothing, instead smiling with relief and approaching him quietly. "So glad your here," he murmured. "She's somewhere in this block or that one," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Trying to get a better fix on her right now."

"I'm so glad to see you here Doctor," said Donovan, smiling at him. "What's that gizmo you've got there?"

"It's a detector, kind of hard to explain, but it'll help narrow things down. I just would rather not get too close until we really know where she is so we can get her out before they realize we're here."

Donavon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the device again. "Just where and how did you get that, Doctor," he asked suspiciously.

"It's ... er... a little something I had with me." He began to once again follow the trail, turning back towards the building behind him.

"Not so fast Doctor, I have a lot of questions to ask you," he said, running to catch up with the Doctor.

"Then ask me quietly as we walk, because we're running out of time," the Doctor said, almost snapping at him.

"See here, I am very close to arresting you for interfering with my case," he said, becoming more and more aggitated with the Doctor. "Now either stop this instant or I'll take you in."

The Doctor wheeled to face him. "Not so loud," he hissed. "They could be within earshot. If you've got a better idea of where she is, my friend, I'm all ears. Otherwise, this little beauty," he said, holding up the sensor, "is all we've got."

"I said stop right now," Donovan shouted at him. He grabbed at the sensor, knocking it out of the Doctor's hand as he did.

* * *

Alfie heard something. He jumped to his feet and stood beside the window, looking out to see what it was. Ten stories below, he could see two men scuffling, and he was sure he'd seen the flash of a badge. "Bad news," he said, grabbing up a medical bag. "Time to move. Now. George, grab her arm," He pulled a hypodermic needle from the bag and grabbed Sarah Jane by the other arm.

Sarah pulled away from them with all her might, but to no avail. No matter how hard she struggled, one very sick little six year old girl was no match for two tall muscular men.

"Hold still," he said, trying to get a good hold on her, then giving up. "George, you hold her still," he said.

George leaned over her menacingly and grabbed both her arms tightly. Alfie wasted no time. He stabbed the needle into Sarah Jane's arm, not caring where or how hard it plunged into her.

Sarah Jane screamed loudly as the needle pierced her. She started crying at the top of her lungs. "Doctor, where are are you? Come and save me right now," she called out. To her little mind, if she called him loud enough, somehow he'd hear her.

But she was too far away, and at the moment he was struggling with Donovan.

Sarah Jane was kicking and fighting, but not getting anywhere. Then she started to get sleepy from the shot, and in a very short time, she stopped struggling.

"Now that's a good little brat," said Alfie as he picked her up and headed out of the room. Sarah's head began to droop and he put her over his shoulder. "Now you be quiet and nothing bad will happen to you."

Sarah was aware that they were walking out the door. She tried to get her eyes to focus, and fought the sleepy feelings as much as possible. As they headed down the stairs towards the back entrance of the building, she watched drowsily as they took the first two flights of stairs. When they reached the eighth floor landing, she spotted a bright red box at the end of it. She read the sign on it and quickly grabbed at the handle as they started to go past it. Suddenly a loud alarm went off and the entire building was filled with the sound of bells pealing.

Alfie felt a tug come from her as she set off the fire alarm, but before he realized what she had done, it was too late. He tore Sarah off of his shoulder and shook her as hard as he could. "I warned you not to do anything you little monster." He held her with one hand and lifted the other to slap her with all his strength. He was going to teach her a lesson she'd never forget. Sarah Jane was not going to go quietly however, and before he could hit her she kicked out at him as hard as she could.

Sarah's aim wasn't very good, but luck was with her as the kick landed in a very sensitive area. Alfie dropped her and she went scrambling towards a window. She jumped up and opened the latch. George went after her but stopped as he realized what could happen. "Now then little girl, you don't want to fall do you? Come here to your old Uncle George and we'll just forget that you didn't behave very well," he said smiling sweetly at her. "We'll even take you right home, promise." He reached his arms out for her to come to him.

"No, you're very bad and I don't believe you," said Sarah Jane as she shook her head and climbed as carefully as she could out onto the ledge.

* * *

The Doctor and Donovan stopped struggling for a moment when they heard the fire alarm. They looked up at the source of the sound just in time to see a small figure that could only be Sarah Jane climb out onto the ledge, edging herself away from the window and the clawing hands trying to reach her. A man tried to climb out after her, but the ledge seemed just wide enough for her tiny feet as she slowly made her way towards the fire escape. It was still at least 10 feet away from her.

The Doctor punched Donovan in the face and jumped up, leaping to grab the fire escape ladder and pull it down so he could climb it, moving up the steps as fast as he could, taking two at a time.

"If you don't come back right now you little brat," said Alfie. "I promise you I'm going to make your death slow and painful." He tried to put his hand on the ledge to climb out of it, but Sarah Jane stomped on it. He swore loudly as he pulled his hand back. "Trust me. When I get my hands on you, you're going to pay."

Sarah was still groggy from the shot, and she started to teeter a bit. She grabbed onto the wall and held on tightly to the edges of the bricks. She looked over at the fire escape and tried to figure out how she could get to it without falling. She slowly tested the edge of a brick to see if she could fit her foot on it enough to support herself. It did support her, and she could walk on the tops of the edges, holding onto the wall with her hands. She stepped down slowly and began to work her way over to the fire escape. Fortunately (or unfortunately), at her age, her concept of her abilities was somewhat skewed towards being far too sure of herself.

As the Doctor hit the third floor landing he saw her on the ledge and his hearts stopped. She swayed dangerously. There was no way she was going to make it to the fire escape. He began calculating the odds of being able to get back to the ground and catch her from there when it happened. Her feet slipped, and she barely caught the ledge with her fingers, slamming into the wall.

Sarah began to sway and her little hands clung tightly to the edge of the bricks. She felt dizzy and she tried to fight off the sleepy feeling that was begining to over power her.

Alfie watched her and thought of the all money they were going to lose when she fell. He cursed at her, shouting about how it was going to feel when she fell. Then he got an idea, he took the blanket they brought her in and lowered it down. "Climb over to this and grab it if you want to live," he yelled out to her.

She eyed the blanket but was afraid to climb back over to it. Her fingers were getting scratched up and it hurt to keep holding on. She looked down and saw the Doctor rushing up the fire escape as fast as his long legs could carry him. "My Prince," she called out to him. "I knew you'd come for me!"

"Sarah, hold on!"

He had made his way up one more floor when he saw her grip finally let go, and she dropped towards the ground.


	14. Chapter 14

Sarah Jane screamed as she felt herself falling. It all seemed surreal to her. Things were going by so fast, and everything was a blur. She wondered how much it would hurt when she hit the ground. She thought maybe, maybe she would break her arm and she would have to wear a cast just like Allison Chalmers had to when she accidentally crashed her bike into a tree. Before she could think of anything else, she felt herself come to a sudden and jarring halt. She pushed her nightgown down to her knees and held it so she could see what happened. She looked up and somehow she was suspended in the air by one leg. She saw a hand holding the leg. As her eyes followed the hand up to the end of the arm, she saw the Doctor. He was breathing very hard and his eyes looked twice the size they normally were. "You're upside down," she exclaimed as she smiled at him.

"And you," the Doctor said wearily. He hooked his right foot behind one of the vertical rails that pinioned his left foot, now twisted at an impossible angle as he hung upside down from it, and used it to steady himself. Residents who had evacuated when the alarms first went off flooded the fire escape, and two burly men hauled the two of them back onto the platform, and safety.

As soon as they were over the railing, the Doctor sat on a step, clutching Sarah Jane tightly to him, oblivious to his swelling foot and leg, to the crowd swirling around them, to the kidnappers, to everything. It was just him and Sarah Jane, and he didn't even notice the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Sarah Jane hugged him back, and pressing her head next to his shoulder, she started to cry. Then she looked up at him. She pulled a hand into the sleeve of her nightgown, then put her now covered hand on his cheek, gently wiping his tears away. "I was very scared, Doctor. Three bad men came and took me away from Auntie's house and they wouldn't bring me back home."

"I know," he said, soothing her. "I know. It's all right now." Dimly, he realized that the kidnappers were still at large, and part of him could think of nothing but getting his hands on them. But the thought of making it down the steps to Donavon was a bit more daunting than he was willing to admit. Now that the adrenaline was ebbing, the pain was starting to creep up his leg, all the way to his dislocated hip. Instead, he just held her some more. After all, Donavon knew they were at large as well, and probably had the place sealed off by now.

After a few moments, Sarah fell asleep. The adrenalin and the excitement had worn off, the drugs she had been given combined with her fever finally overcoming her.

The Doctor just watched her sleep until one of the men who'd helped them over the railing gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "We'd be honored if you'd let us help you, sir," he said softly, careful not to wake Sarah Jane.

The Doctor nodded weakly, shifting Sarah to his right arm and putting his left arm around the man's shoulder so he could help him up. Together they made their way slowly down the steps, the man acting as a crutch.

The crowd cheered, and he tried not to be blinded by the flashbulbs of newly arrived photographers. What a mess. Then he looked down at Sarah's sleeping face and smiled. It was worth it. The papers would have a story about just another mysterious good Samaritan.

Inspector Donavon had been watching as the whole thing unfolded and now he made his way over to them. "Here, give me the child. I'll see that she gets home safely. I've sent for an ambulance for you, Doctor."

The Doctor looked at Donavon's bloody nose and had no intention of handing Sarah Jane over to him. "I don't need an ambulance," he panted. "I just need to get to my ... to that Police Box over there," he said, motioning to the TARDIS, now just half a block away. He turned to the man acting as his crutch. "If you could just help me over there..." he mumbled, not even considering what he was going to do when they did.

"Doctor," Donovan interjected, losing patience, "you've interfered with this whole case from the very start and I begrudgingly tolerated it. I am, however, in charge here, and I insist that you let me do my job. I have the two men who kidnapped young Miss Smith in custody in my car. Now I'm going to ask that you hand her over to me so I can take her back to her Aunt and file my reports. If you don't comply, I'm going to have you arrested at once." He held his arms out and waited for the Doctor to put Sarah Jane in them.

Bonita Carruthers, a freelance journalist who lived in the building, had been watching, and knew a great chance to make a good story even better when she saw it. She forced her way through the crowd and approached the two men, tape recorder slung over her shoulder. "I am about to talk to the man who heroically rescued the child, just seconds after her near fatal plunge," she said loudly and officiously into her microphone. "Sir, who is this child to you? You just saved her from certain death, is she a relative of yours?" She stuck the mic up to the Doctor's face.

The Doctor felt like a deer caught in the headlights. "I'm sorry, it's ... no, she's ... I'm a ..." Suddenly he felt the tug of hands trying to take Sarah out of his arms. "Leave her alone!" he shouted, holding on to her as tightly as he could with one arm.

"Sir, you leave me no choice," said Donavon with all the authority he could muster. "I'm afraid you're under arrest. Now give the child to me and come along quietly. It will only upset everyone if you resist me."

"Surely you can't be saying that you're arresting a man who bravely risked his own life to rescue this little girl?" Bonita asked. "Can I have your name, Inspector?" She stuck the mic in his face now.

"His name is Donovan," the Doctor spat, "and he's only here because I told him-" Suddenly he felt his arm dragged from around the neck of the man supporting him and pulled behind him. He heard himself scream as he put down his left foot to catch his balance and the pain tore through him as he crashed to the ground, smashing his face and barely managing to push out his elbow to keep Sarah from hitting her head on the concrete.

Donovan quickly pried the still sleeping Sarah Jane out of his arms and handed her to another officer, then slapped his handcuffs around the Doctor's wrists. "I did warn you, Doctor. It's a pity it had to come to this, but you're going down to the station with me." He pulled the Doctor up with one arm and took Sarah back in the other. He ignored the boos and jeers from the crowd as he walked away, asking the newly arrived local police to hold them back.

The Doctor could barely think through the pain, trying to stay on his feet and keep up with Donovan so that he didn't lose Sarah. Bonita and the crowd started after them, but suddenly, they were held back by a brace of policemen. "Please disperse everyone, this is police business and everything is under control," said an officer to the crowd. They left mumbling, and Bonita made up her mind to see this through to the end.

Meanwhile, Donavon was leading them to a back alley. As soon as they rounded the corner, the Doctor saw that the car was empty. "They're gone," he managed to say between ragged breaths.

Donovan gave the Doctor a sharp jerk. "What do you know about this? If you let those two men go, I'll see that you're hanged for it. Kidnapping is a very serious offense, Doctor," he threatened.

"I was on the... fire escape," the Doctor panted.

Donovan opened the back door with the hand he held Sarah in and almost dropped her again. "Get in the back seat," he spat.

"Be careful, she's been through enough," the Doctor said as Donovan recovered his grip on Sarah.

"I told you, this is my case, Doctor, now get into the car please, and I promise, I'll take her back to her Aunt's house safe and sound right before I drive you to a nice cozy jail cell."

The Doctor realized that he was out of options. And anyway, the goal was to get Sarah home. He could deal with his own incarceration later. Before his right leg gave way he sat down and swung both legs into the car, biting back a cry as he did. The door slammed hollowly.

Sarah Jane awoke slightly as the car door slammed. She looked up groggily and saw that Donovan was holding her. Frightened, she was suddenly wide awake. She looked around to see the Doctor in the back seat of the car. "Doctor," she cried out to him. "This is the other bad man! He was driving the motor car when Alfie and George took me from Auntie Lavinia's house!"

Donovan opened the car door and practically threw Sarah Jane into the front seat.

Suddenly the Doctor realized what had been going on and cursed himself for being so distracted by finding Sarah that he hadn't seen it before. He fumbled behind him for the door handle, but as expected the door didn't open. Besides, what was he going to do, leap out of car and fall on Donovan?

"I've had just about enough of you, Missy," Donovan said. "First, we're going to go and get the ransom money from your Aunt. After that, I'm going to take proper care of you, once and for all. Right now, though, I'm going to kill your prince here before he can cause any more trouble for me." He laughed as he locked Sarah in.

The Doctor's mind raced, looking for a solution. The sonic screwdriver had fallen out of his pocket as he'd caught Sarah Jane. He tried to remain calm, but locked in the back seat, handcuffed, with one working leg, he suddenly understood what it felt like to be that fish in the proverbial barrel.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Sarah Jane crawled into the back seat and huddled next to the Doctor. "Hurry up, let's get out of here before he can hurt us," she whispered to him.

"I can't right now," he said, turning to show her the handcuffs. He didn't want to scare her, but he needed her to understand that his options were limited. He saw Donovan coming around to the driver's side, screwing a silencer on a Walther PPK. If he were lucky, Donovan would try and shoot him in the heart, rather than the head. But one way or another, he was about to get shot, and he wanted Sarah Jane out of the way. "I want you to climb back into that front seat right now so you don't get hurt. It's going to look like he's hurt me very badly, but you have to believe in the magic, all right?" he said, breathing very fast now. "Go, go **now**, and first chance you can you **run** and you don't look back, you hear me?"

Sarah Jane nodded as she started to cry. "I don't want to leave you. I love you too much."

The Doctor saw Donovan coming around the front of the car towards him. "I love you too, now please **go**, if you care about me even a little," he said desperately.

She crawled back into the front seat and tried unsuccessfully to get the door open.

The back door opened and before he could even react the Doctor heard the twin 'thwip's of silenced gunshots. Pain exploded in his chest, and then there was nothing.

Donovan laughed as he locked Sarah in.


	15. Chapter 15

Sarah Jane heard the noise too. She didn't know what it was, but she stopped pulling at the car door and turned her head back just in time to see the Doctor suddenly slump down. Forgetting all about her promise, she lept to his side and flung herself against him. She looked up at Donovan and glared at him. "You leave him alone, you bad man."

Donovan didn't even bother to answer her, slamming the door and climbing behind the wheel. With a screech he pulled out of the alleyway and into traffic, speeding down the road.

Sarah held onto the Doctor tightly. She looked up at him and rubbed his cheek with her hand. "Doctor? Are you all right?" When he didn't answer her, she began to cry. "Why won't you talk to me?" she asked him. "Wake up and go after that horrible man. That's what the handsome Prince is supposed to do when he rescues the Princess." She felt something wet and warm against her skin and she sat up to see what it was. The front of her nightgown was covered in blood. She looked back at the Doctor and blood was dripping out of his chest from two places. His clothes were soaked in it. "Doctor!" she screamed. She grabbed onto Donovan's coat and yanked it to get his attention. "You hurt him, we have to take him to hospital right now so he can get better."

Donovan didn't turn back to look at her. "You want me to take him to the hospital? You behave yourself and sit still."

Sarah huddled up against the Doctor and tried to staunch the blood with her hands. "Are we going to the hospital now," she asked in a worried tone.

"Right, we're going to the hospital now," Donovan growled.

The Doctor, meanwhile, regained consciousness, but debated for a moment whether it would be better to reassure Sarah or play dead, lest Donovan try to finish the job. But when he felt Sarah's small hands on his chest, he knew the answer. "It's all right," he whispered, forcing a smile and winking at her when she looked up at him. "Shhhh."

Sarah looked up at him, nodded and smiled. 'You really are magic,' she mouthed with relief. Then she put her face against his and rubbed her cheek against it. She was afraid that if she took her hands off of his wounds he'd start bleeding again.

The Doctor smiled at her and closed his eyes for a few seconds to take stock of the damage. Both of his left lungs were punctured, so he shut them down; the right lungs had plenty of capacity, and the last thing he needed was to start coughing up blood. One bullet had punched through the costal cartilage of the fourth rib, but that was manageable; he was more concerned about the small nick to his temporal glottis. That was going to have to be high on the priority list, healing-wise. The bullets themselves were still lodged against the back of his rib cage; the silencer had slowed the muzzle velocity just enough that his dense physical structure had stopped them before they could exit again. They weren't pressing against anything vital; he could carry them around for a while until he could deal with them.

It seemed that Donovan was more concerned about getting somewhere than taking care of him, so he carefully took a deep breath and tried to relax, concentrating on healing enough of his blood vessels to stop the bleeding before he got too disoriented to do anything more. Before long, he could feel that he'd done enough so that he wasn't bleeding all over Sarah, at the very least.

Gradually he became aware of the sound of gravel crunching beneath the cars tires, and the car skidded to a stop.

Sarah looked up at the Doctor when she felt the car stop. She hoped that he wouldn't ask her to leave him again, not now when he was hurt. It was hard enough to do when he was alright, but she just couldn't bear to part from him now.

As the Doctor was clawing his way out of his healing trance and back to full awareness, he saw Donovan opening the doors to what seemed like storm cellar, and a moment later the door opened and Donovan knocked Sarah back and hauled him out of the car, grumbling about how heavy he was as he managed to drag him out and to the edge of the stairs, dropping him like a stone and sending him tumbling down the concrete stairs into the darkness.

Sarah Jane got up and ran to the Doctor's side. She rushed past Donovan without a thought about how dark or cold the cellar was. All she knew was that if the Doctor was there, she wasn't going to leave him. She reached the Doctor's side and cradled his head in her lap then looked up at Donovan in defiance as he slammed the door and bolted it. Once the door was shut, she started to cry, her tears falling on the Doctor's face. She felt dizzy and her head hurt. She started coughing again as she shivered from the cold. "Are you alright, my prince," she whispered not wanting to disobey the Doctor, but desperately needing to be reassured.

The Doctor finally took a deep breath, the pounding he took tumbling down the stairs finally subsiding. "It's all right," he said into the darkness. "He's gone now." He felt her tears falling on his face, and felt bad about all the times - unintentional as they were - that he'd made her think he was dead. For a few moments he rested, working to get his breathing under control. It was an odd juxtaposition; even at her age, she was taking care of him, and it was comforting, despite the discomfort of lying on his cuffed hands. "Sarah," he finally said, "I need you to do something for me, can you do that?"

"I'll do anything for you, anything you want," she said over her coughing.

"Good," he said. "I want you to reach up and feel around the walls to see if you can find a light switch of any kind."

Sarah gently set his head down and stood up. She started feeling her way around the room. She was shivering hard now and trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head. The cold and dampness of the cellar wasn't helping her at all. She didn't know it, but she was burning up with fever. All she knew was that the Doctor needed her to find the light and she wasn't going to quit until she did. After a few moments, she found a wall switch and flipped it on. The room filled with light. "I found it," she smiled at him proudly.

"Wonderful," the Doctor said, smiling at her. He took another deep breath and realized that between the broken rib, the dislocated hip, and the smashed elbow, what he was about to do was not going to be fun. He bent his torso so that he could get his cuffed hands behind his knees, then pulled his right leg up and over his hands. Another deep breath and an involuntary moan as he maneuvered his left leg over the handcuffs, and his hands were finally in front of him. He pushed himself over to the wall so he could lean against it and sit up. "Now," he said, turning his attention back to Sarah, "you come over here and let's get a good look at you."

Normally, Sarah Jane would have lept eagerly into his arms, but feeling the way she did made that impossible for her to do. Instead she made her way back to him as quickly as she could manage. Once she was next to him she sat down and leaned carefully up against his shoulder. "I'd give you a big hug," she said sadly. "But I don't want to hurt you where you where bleeding."

He turned and sat her on his good leg. "I appreciate that." Now that he was able to concentrate, he could tell immediately that she was more than just a little feverish. She shivered as he touched her face, trying to wipe his blood off of her cheek. He needed to get her fever down, and fast. His first thought was to try and cool her down, but she was already shivering, which was raising her core temperature. He held open the right side of his coat. "Come here, sweetheart, you snuggle up under my coat, all right? We need to warm you up a little, since you don't feel good."

She snuggled up against him. "You don't feel good either. That man lied, he said he was going to take you to a hospital. I don't like him at all."

"It's all right," the Doctor said. "I don't like him either." He stroked her head gently and monitored her shivering as it subsided. "Now, other than not feeling well, are you all right? Did they hurt you at all?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, there was a sort of bad man named Alfie and a very bad man named George who said he was going to sell me to someone when Auntie gave him some money, but no body hurt me. I was maybe just a little scared, but I knew you'd come and save me and defeat the evil villains." She looked up and smiled at him, her little innocent face beaming with unconditional love and trust.

"You were very brave, and I'm very proud of you," he said, enfolding her a little more tightly in his coat. Her shivering had stopped, but heat still radiated off of her like a furnace. "The important thing for you to remember is that we're safe for the moment, and we both need to get better. Right now though, I need to rest up a bit, and you need to get rid of some of that nasty old fever you've got." He remembered when he'd been his fourth self, and she'd been an adult, that he'd used his control over his body temperature to keep her from freezing to death in the arctic. Now that skill could help both of them. "Listen, you snuggle close here under my suit jacket, all right?" He waited while she readjusted herself; he could really feel the heat coming off her, right through his shirt. "Good, now here's what's going to happen, my body is going to get a little cool, and you're going to warm me up, OK?"

She nodded as she huddled close to him. Her little face was flushed and she looked very tired. He could see that she needed to rest.

He adjusted his body temperature downwards slightly, so that he felt lukewarm to her. "My body temperature is going to help you with that fever of yours. This way we're helping each other get better. Now doesn't that work out nicely?" He smiled at her reassuringly. He didn't try to explain that by lowering his body temperature, he was leaving more energy for healing the most grievous of his injuries; when Donovan came back, and he knew that he would, he'd at least have to have his hip working, and be able to stand without bleeding out.


	16. Chapter 16

"Those bad men gave me some yucky tasting medicine, but it didn't work very well," Sarah Jane said. "You're the best medicine because you're magical and I love you." She gave the Doctor's hand a squeeze.

"All right, then," he said, squeezing her hand back. "You take a little nap, and when you wake up you'll feel better."

Sarah Jane reached up and kissed his cheek. Then she snuggled deeply against his shoulder. She fit perfectly into the crook of his arm. Soon she was sleeping as soundly as only a child can. In her little mind, everything was fixed. She was with her prince and she wasn't afraid anymore.

The Doctor looked down at her for a few moments. He had two hearts, and both of them were breaking. He held her a little longer, then let himself lapse back into a healing trance, letting his mind wander.

He realized that he still had Martha's phone, but who would he call? He could call Lavinia, but what could he tell her? That he had Sarah, but they were trapped in a basement heaven knew where? That the kidnappers could be back at any moment to kill both of them? That at least some portion of the police department was in on the kidnapping, so he couldn't call them either? Once again he wished it was either a few years earlier or a few years later, when he might have other options.

And what was all this about, anyway? A simple bad cop, in on a traditional kidnapping? Sarah had said that they'd been planning on getting money from Lavinia; he'd been so intent on finding her that apparently he hadn't given her a chance to tell him that after their last call. It would certainly explain why Donovan hadn't apprehended the kidnappers; they were his partners. 'Great,' he thought. 'Now I have to worry about all three of them showing up any minute.'

As if on cue, he heard a car driving up the gravel road, and quickly reached up to switch off the light. At least he could give them THAT advantage. He gently nudged Sarah. "Sarah, wake up," he said quietly.

She groaned softly and slowly opened her eyes. "Doctor?" she answered him, still not quiet awake and a bit confused. "Where are we, and why is it so dark in here?"

"Shhh," he said. He put a hand on her back and saw that her temperature had dropped. Not much, but it had dropped. "I want you to go hide behind the cabinet in the corner to my left," he said. "And be very quiet."

Sarah stood up slowly and felt her way over to the cabinet. She hid behind it obediently and waited. She was sure that the Doctor was all better now and when the bad men came, he was ready to punish them for treating her the way they did.

The Doctor pushed himself up against the wall to a standing position. The stairwell was to his right, and he was prepared to grab Donovan when he came down. What he was going to do with more than one of them, he wasn't sure. His hip was just sore; nothing was torn, thankfully. But the bones in his foot had not yet knitted together; in fact while he'd slept, concentrating on his chest, his foot had swollen to three times its normal size, straining the seams of his shoe, his ankle spilling out over the top of it like some kind of grotesque muffin.

In the end, he didn't have to worry about it; the cellar door opened, and Donovan threw two heavy bundles down, then closed the doors and slammed the bolt home before the Doctor could confirm his suspicions about what they were.

The Doctor waited a few more moments, then reluctantly flipped the light back on and limped over to find what were, in fact, bodies. He knelt down to make sure they were dead. As he rolled one over to look at his face, he could see his bloody chest, testament to Donovan's MO. Turning the body back so that Sarah Jane couldn't see the gaping wounds, he stood up. That's when he saw a pair of startled green eyes peeking out at him from behind the cabinet.

"That's them," Sarah Jane whispered in awe. "That's Alfie and George, they're the bad men. But why are they sleeping down here?" she asked naively.

The Doctor didn't answer her for a moment. Maybe it was frustration, maybe it was all the emotion of the past few days, or maybe it was just plain protectiveness, but now that he had her kidnappers right there, he felt the anger welling up in him. If they hadn't already been dead, he didn't know what he would have done - or wanted to do, anyway. He reminded himself that they were only part of the problem; the main problem, Donovan, was still upstairs. He limped over to a sturdy looking box and sat down, motioning for Sarah to join him. He set her down on his lap and just held her, her face in his chest where she couldn't see them. She'd seen enough.

Sarah tried to reason out his actions. After a few moments, she knew what was wrong. When he stopped hugging her she looked up at him sadly. "They're not sleeping are they?"

He swallowed hard and shook his head slowly. He was furious that she'd been put in this situation; so furious, he didn't even trust himself to speak. What kind of monster was Donovan that he would lock a six year old child in a dark cellar with two - and as far as he knew, three - dead bodies?

Sarah looked around the cellar. She'd heard the door bolt shut too, so she knew just walking out the door wasn't an option. She kept looking until she saw two small windows. They were too tall for her to reach, and they were too small for the Doctor to crawl through, still, she thought she had a solution. "I want to get out of here and go home, don't you," she said flashing a knowing look at the Doctor.

"I do," the Doctor said, spying the same windows she was seeing. He didn't like the idea of sending her out there; Donovan was still upstairs, and even though it wasn't yet dawn, he could easily see her undoing the bolt to let him out. But they didn't have any better options. He set her down. "Wait here for a moment." He limped back to Alfie and George and checked them for weapons; Donovan had been careless about making sure he was dead, but he hadn't been **that **careless, and there weren't any on either of the bodies. So he looked around for something else he could use. It was just as well; he hated guns anyway, even if it would have been nice to be able to threaten Donovan, at the very least.

Sarah waited and then covered her eyes with her hands when she saw him go over to the bodies. "If I can stand on your shoulders, then I can get through one of those windows and come around and quietly open the door when no one is looking," she said proudly, through her fingers, as though it were the world's most original plan. "Then we can run away from here," she said.

He saw her covering her eyes and realized he should have told her not to look, but it was too late to worry about that now. He limped over to the window and steadied his back against the wall, leaning down so she could put her tiny foot in his hands.

Sarah eagerly climbed up, and once she was standing on his shoulders, she began to try and open the window. Even though it was dark outside, she could tell the windows were filthy. She flinched a little when she realized that she would have to put her hands on the cobwebs to turn the latch that locked the window. Gingerly she twisted the latch until the window was no longer locked. She looked down at her nightgown. The front was covered with blood and she had been sitting on the floor next to the Doctor since he was pushed into the cellar. She shrugged as she wiped her hand on the side of her favorite sleepwear and then tried to push the window open. It hadn't been open for a long time, and it was stuck shut. Sarah Jane leaned both hands against the window frame and put all her weight on it.

It slowly began to move and was about a third of the way open when the Doctor heard Donovan at the top of the steps. "Sarah," he said quickly, "keep trying to get out and when you do you run and you don't stop, no matter what." He hefted her until she was completely on the window ledge and started back for the steps.

He'd intended to hide behind the steps and take Donovan down from there, but he'd completely underestimated how long it would take for the Inspector to get down the stairs, and he found himself face to face with the barrel of Donovan's gun.

"And just where do you think you're going, little Miss Smith?" Donovan asked. 


	17. Chapter 17

Donovan pushed the Doctor against the wall and turned towards the window. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come back into the room and sit down right now before I hurt your prince again," he called over to Sarah. He looked over at the Doctor in surprise. "And you, I know I didn't miss you. How is it that you're still alive, much less walking about?"

Sarah watched with horror as she tried to get the window open wide enough to squeeze out of it. As she frantically pounded on the window, she could see Donovan aiming his gun at the Doctor's head. Suddenly, she fell more than climbed out the window and found herself hitting the ground that had been just a few inches below.

"If you don't walk around to the door and come right back here, you're never going to see your prince again little girl," Donovan called out to her. "I've got this gun aimed right between his eyes and trust me he won't live after I pull the trigger. You've got to the count of ten and then there's going to be brains splattered all over the walls in here." He started to count. "One, two, three, four..."

The Doctor was relieved to see that Sarah Jane did not appear at the door. His leg had brushed up against a pipe, and he was trying to figure out if he could surreptitiously grab it before the Inspector noticed.

"...five, six, if you can still hear me, Miss Smith, my finger is starting to pull back on the trigger! Seven, eight-" He ducked to avoid a grapefruit-sized rock that had come flying at his head.

Sarah Jane had missed, but her missile had distracted Donovan just enough to give the Doctor the opening he had been looking for. He grabbed the pipe and smashed Donovan as hard as he could. The gun went flying, and both of them hit the floor as the Doctor lost his balance and slammed into him.

In a single moment, all of the anger, the rage, the frustration that had been building in the Doctor since the moment he'd arrived poured out of him as he slammed Donovan with his handcuffed fists. How could he endanger Sarah like that? How could he dare to put her in that kind of a situation? Didn't he know how special she was? He grabbed the Inspector by the shirt and dragged him off the ground, slamming him into it again and again and finally meeting no resistance. "How could you do this?" he screamed.

He stood and picked up the fallen gun, then hobbled over to Donovan and stood over him, pointing the gun at his head. "I should kill you," he panted. "For everything that you've done. I could end it all right now and you'll never hurt anyone else again." He felt his finger on the trigger. It was something he'd always sworn to fight against. 

It felt good.

Sarah Jane started sobbing as she stared in horror at the Doctor. This couldn't be her prince. Her prince might fight with someone and win, but he would never be so cruel and brutal. She shrank back as he aimed the gun at Donovan's head.

The Doctor saw her out of the corner of his eye and stopped for the first time, horrified to realize what he was doing, what he was saying. What Donovan had done was unconscionable. There was no question about that. But as the adrenaline ran out of him at the sight of her reaction, the Doctor kicked himself, wondering how much of what he'd been thinking and saying was actually about the Inspector.

He lowered the gun and managed to make it to the steps, sitting down heavily. He set down the gun and gave her a weak smile. "It's all right, come here."

When she looked into his eyes and saw that they were calm again, she ran over to his arms. Slipping under the handcuffs, she hugged him as tightly as she could. Then she proceeded to cry her eyes out. Unfortunately, that stared up another coughing jag.

He held her as she cried and coughed, gently rubbing her back as best he could to try and soothe her. He couldn't believe what he'd almost done, and he didn't want to think about what had been going through his head. "It's all right," he said again. Her fever was back, and he realized that he'd been lucky her little system hadn't given out with all that exertion. One more thing to blame himself for. "Everything's all right now."

But he was right, and all that crying and stress wasn't helping her one bit. She was shivering again, and now that her excitement had abated, she felt very weak. She leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulders. "I don't feel very good right now," she said.

"No, of course not. We'll get you all better," he said. 'As soon as I figure out who to call,' he thought.

But before he could even give the matter any consideration, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Donovan had pulled a second weapon from who-knew-where and as his arm swung around to fire, the Doctor realized he couldn't reach the gun where he'd put it. All he could do was try to spin around and put himself between Sarah and Donovan. He'd barely managed to do it before he heard the shot booming in the tiny room.

For an instant the Doctor wondered how Donovan could possibly have missed at such short range, but then he saw Roberts at the top of the steps. He turned back and looked at Donovan, who was now face down on the dirty floor. For a second, he thought that it was finally over, but the way this day had been going, he realized they might have just jumped from the frying pan into the fire. "Inspector?" he asked tentatively.

Roberts looked over at the Doctor. "Are you two alright, or do I need to ring up an ambulance?"

"I think we'll be all right, but she needs an anti-pyretic for this fever," the Doctor said, still unsure. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," he said, coming down the steps and checking Donovan for a pulse. "Suffice to say I had a hunch that Donovan was up to something." He laid the back of his hand against Sarah's head, "You're right, we need to get this little one to a Doctor, and you as well, I see." He gave orders to call for two ambulances; Donovan was alive, for now. Then he knelt down so that he was at eye level with Sarah. "You must be Sarah Jane Smith, I've heard so much about you from the Doctor and your Auntie." He tipped his hat an extended his hand to her. "I'm very pleased to meet you at last my dear."


	18. Chapter 18

Sarah Jane took his hand gingerly then nodded her head politely. "Pleased to meet you too, Mister Policeman, Sir."

The Doctor took it in, laughing with relief. "I could use ... er..." He turned so Roberts could undo the handcuffs.

"Ah, yes I do see your dilemma, my dear chap," he chuckled. He pulled out his keys and removed the cuffs as he gave orders to call an ambulance for Donovan, and to make sure he was secured. "There we go."

The Doctor rubbed his raw wrists and shook out his shoulders. Then he gave Sarah a proper hug.

Sarah happily threw her arms around him and returned the hug. Within a few moments, she picked her head up, stared deeply at him and ran her hand across his chest. She gave him a worried look then turned to Roberts. "My prince is wounded and sick, something inside of him doesn't sound right. He needs a doctor too."

The Doctor realized that as much time as Sarah had spent snuggled up against him, she had probably picked up on the difference in breath sounds when he'd shut down his left lungs. Even at this age, she was more in tune with him than anyone else would ever be.. "Er ... no, no, it's all right," he said, smiling at Sarah. "I'm all right."

Roberts looked hard at him. "A reporter told me that you'd been shot," he said, gently leaning Sarah forward and seeing the blood on the Doctor's shirt. "My heavens," he said. "Jenkins, call for a second ambulance." The PC sprinted for one of the cars.

"No, really, Inspector, this really looks much worse than it is. I'd really just like to get out of here, if you don't mind." The last time he'd encountered a well-meaning cardiologist due to a gunshot wound, he'd wound up regenerating, so he wasn't anxious for a repeat of that experience. Wanting to distract Roberts, he picked up Sarah with his right arm and pointed to his swollen foot. "Now that, on the other hand, is quite painful, so if you wouldn't mind giving us a hand up..."

"Of course," Roberts said, leaving his reinforcements to deal with Donovan. He leaned down so that the Doctor could get his free arm around his shoulder.

"So how did you know to find us here?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, that's a long story, but I'll try to condense it for you as best I can," he said as they slowly made their way up the cellar steps, the Doctor leaning on Roberts as a crutch. "I went back to the station to talk to Donovan face to face after I spoke to him on the phone at Miss Smith's house. Something about his behavior over this case had been troubling me from the first, but I couldn't put my finger on it. When I got to the station, I learned that he'd left without assigning anyone to help you. I was asking where he'd gone when a reporter heard me and said she'd followed the three of you into an alley where she insisted she'd witnessed him shooting you and driving off. Funny thing, she was sure he'd killed you." He stopped for a moment so the Doctor could catch his breath. "I played a hunch and got lucky. Donovan lives in the city, so there'd be no way to hide something like this, but he and I used this place as a safehouse on a government protection project a few years back. It's isolated, so I hoped that he'd taken you and the child back here. Thankfully I was right."

"Lucky that," the Doctor said, once again ready to move.

"And lucky I've a handgun permit," he said. "He really wanted to kill you two." He sighed. "I honestly don't know what happened there. He was a fine officer, best in the field at one time."

"If you don't mind, Inspector, I'll reserve judgement on that," the Doctor said wearily.

As they reached the top of the steps and headed towards Roberts' car, Bonita Caruthers leapt out in front of them, her photographer right behind her. "Excuse me inspector, but I think I'm entitled to an exclusive after all the help I gave you." She motioned for her photographer to follow her as she kept pace with them. She turned to the Doctor with concern. "Your leg is broken and you were shot a short while ago, I saw it myself, how is it you're walking around?"

The Doctor tried to avoid the camera. "He ... er ... missed. Right now my main concern, and I'm sure yours as well, is to get this little girl some medical attention, if you'll excuse us, please." He gratefully accepted Roberts' help into the front seat of his car.

"You can sit here, Doctor, while we wait for the ambulances to arrive. They should be here any moment," said Roberts. Then he turned to the reporter. "Since you were a tremendous help, Miss Caruthers, I will give you a call when everyone involved is safe and secure. I promise you, you will get your exclusive if you'll just be patient. In the meantime, I haven't called in my report yet about this little rescue. If you hurry, you still have the scoop on Miss Smith being found."

Bonita Caruthers hesitated for a moment. She did have a radio contact she could use. Her editor at the paper wouldn't be happy, but she'd be sure they threw in a plug, so he couldn't complain. "Let's make tracks for a phone and then the office before someone listening to the police radio beats us to it." She headed back towards her car as quickly as she could, still followed by her photographer.

Roberts turned back to the Doctor and Sarah. "If you'll allow me, your highness," he said to her. "I'll wait here and stand guard over you and your prince until your escort to the hospital arrives. I'm sure if I may have your permission, I can arrange for the siren to be turned on for the duration of your journey."

Sarah Jane tried to conceal her excitement as looked up at the Doctor to see how he felt about it.

The Doctor smiled. "Anything my Lady wishes," he said, bowing his head.

They began to hear sirens in the distance. Roberts gently bowed to Sarah. "Your carriage awaits you, your majesty," he said, smiling as he held out his hand to her.

Sarah Jane nodded her head at him in acknowledgment of his actions as if she were the queen herself. She took his hand and smiled at him. "Thank you kindly, good Sir," she said, then snuggled up next to the Doctor once more.

"My pleasure," said Roberts with a very straight face.

"Inspector," the Doctor said, "you're going to meet us at the hospital, right?"

"I have to file my report and see to a few matters, but I'll be along shortly."

"Would you mind, then, doing a terribly important favor for me? I dropped two things back in Portsmouth during the scuffle. One I don't care much about, but the other is a sort of metal cylinder thing with a kind of light on the end, about eight inches long. It'll be right under the fire escape, if it's still there. Fell out of my pocket while we were hanging upside down. Would you mind taking a quick look for it on your way?

"Certainly. It's actually a bit out of my way, but I could hardly say no at this point, could I," he smiled. "I'll bring it with me for you if I find it," Roberts smiled as he patted his shoulder. "You needn't worry about a thing now. Just take care of yourself and her highness here."

With screaming sirens, both ambulances arrived together, and Roberts directed the crew of one down into the basement and the other to the Doctor and Sarah.

Two men dressed in crisp white uniforms got out of the back of the ambulance, and then pulled a gurney from it. Seeing Sarah sitting on the Doctor's lap and then the blood covering their clothes, the ambulance attendants turned their attention to the Doctor first. "Right then Sir," one said. "I understand you've been shot. Let's see what we have here."

One of the men reached for Sarah Jane, smiling at her as he went to pick her up. "Hello, little girl, my name is Bill. Can you come here with me please, so Frank can help this gentleman?"

Sarah Jane shrank back from him and clung to the Doctor. After all she'd been through, she wasn't about to leave his side.

"No, no," the Doctor said, "I'm fine, she's the one who needs care. She need an antipyretic right away, but I'm going to stay with her the whole time," he said to them, looking her in the eye. He held a hand out to Bill so he could help him up while he held Sarah.

"Sir, we had a report of someone suffering from gunshot wounds," Frank said gently. "You look as if you've lost a lot of blood and I'm guessing that you're probably in shock. We need you to cooperate and let us help you lie down so we can take a good look at you and determine where you've been injured. Once we assess your condition, we can begin treating you."

"Listen," the Doctor said, "I'm perfectly capable of lying down, but I just don't need to right now. Really, this looks much worse than it is. On the other hand, this little girl's fever is spiking, and she needs the care much more than I do, don't you Sarah Jane?"

Sarah Jane looked up at them and nodded. "He's not bleeding anymore and I feel awfully ill."

"I suggest you see to Miss Smith first," said Inspector Roberts to the two attendants. "From what I know of this man he won't let you treat him until he knows that she's being cared for."

"Very well," sighed Frank. "It's not proper procedure, but if you say so, Inspector, we'll go along with it. Mind you, if anything goes wrong with him, " he nodded towards the Doctor. "It's you that will be accounting for it."

Roberts looked over at the Doctor and winked. "I'll answer for him personally."

"Thank you, Inspector. And thank you for picking up that item for me, it's very important." He turned back to the attendants. "Now if you'll just give me a hand, we can get this show on the road." Once again he held out his left hand for someone to help him.

Frank shook his head, but held out his hand anyway.

The Doctor hauled himself to his feet, then gingerly sat Sarah on the gurney. "Now you be good and let these men have a look at you so they can make you better," he said, stepping aside to make room, but still holding her hand.

Sarah placed her head back on the little pillow and held onto the Doctor's hand tightly. Bill put a stethoscope to her chest and listened for a moment. He gently picked up her free hand and took her pulse. "Her heart rate is much too high," he said with sudden concern. He whipped a thermometer out of its case and shaking it down, he placed it in her mouth. "Keep this under your tongue please," he said to her. When he took it out of her mouth his eyes widened as he read it. "Let's get going," he said quickly to his partner, then started pushing the gurney into the ambulance.


	19. Chapter 19

The attendants secured Sarah on the gurney and hurriedly loaded her in. Frank helped the Doctor up and in before closing the doors and hurrying to the wheel.

After he was sure that Sarah and the Doctor were on their way to the hospital Roberts jumped in the front seat of his car and started it up. As he pulled out into the street he smiled with satisfaction. It was always a good day when a kidnapped child was recovered without being harmed. Unlike the last one, this case at least would have a happy ending.

* * *

Bill had immediately started an IV on Sarah. She was clearly dehydrated and since the fluids were cooler than her body temperature, they would help bring her fever down. She fussed a little about it, but he was as gentle as possible as he told her a joke to distract her. She settled down as soon as the needle was in and not hurting her anymore. As the siren started and the ambulance pulled away, she turned her head to look out the window. After a moment she turned back and looked over at the Doctor, who was sitting next to her. He held her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, then pulled it up to her cheek. "Please don't ever ask me to leave you again."

The Doctor carefully put his arm around her and just held her. "I promise you," he said, "that I will never ask you to leave me if I can possibly avoid it." Suddenly, he remembered something. He fished around in his pocket.

"Hallo," said Lavinia Smith nervously as she picked up her phone.

"We have her and she's all right," the Doctor said tiredly.

"Thank heavens," Lavinia said collapsing into a nearby chair. "When can you bring her home?"

"We're on our way to the hospital to have her examined and treated. She does have influenza I'm afraid. Can you meet us there?"

"Of course I can. I'd like to see anyone try and stop me," she exclaimed.

"Would you like to speak to her?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh yes! Bless you, Doctor." At this point she was almost in tears.

The Doctor handed Sarah the phone, gently putting it up to her ear. She took to it as though there were nothing out of the ordinary about it, but he realized that Bill was staring at him as though he were insane. "Miniature two-way radio," he said, as though it were obvious.

Bill nodded slowly, as though he understood.

"Hullo Auntie," said Sarah Jane. "I got rescued by my prince, and now I'm riding in an ambulance with a siren and everything."

Lavinia laughed through her tears. "I'm so glad you're safe. How do you feel? The Doctor says you're not well."

"I do feel very tired and I coughed so much my sides hurt, but the Doctor says they're going to fix everthing for me at the hospital. I hope I don't have to get another shot," she said, frowning as she thought about it.

The Doctor chuckled at the notion that a little girl who had been kidnapped, had fallen out of a window and been caught by her foot, had been menaced by a gun toting maniac and locked in a cellar with dead bodies was worried about getting an injection.

"I'm going to be there to meet you when you get to the hospital my pet, and I'm going to be so happy to see you that I'm going to give you the biggest hug ever. Can you put the Doctor back on please so I can find out where they're taking you?"

"Alright Auntie. I'm going to be very happy to see you too. Here's the Doctor," she said handing him back the phone.

"See, same old Sarah Jane," he said.

"Yes, thank heavens, at least for the moment she doesn't seem to be too phased by any of it. I don't know about you Doctor, but I wish I could say the same about myself. I can tell you I've aged considerably in the last few days. Which hospital are you headed for? I want to get there before you do."

"Mayfield Road," he answered, having overheard the attendants discussing it. "We'll see you there in a few minutes," he said his goodbye's and hung up. He noticed that Bill was staring at him. "Seriously, it's a miniature two-way radio," he said as he slipped it back into his pocket.

"It's not the radio," Bill said. "I'm waiting for you to drop."

The Doctor smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Really, it looks worse than it is." But there was a little part of him that was just screaming for a nap in the zero room. He was ignoring it, but he felt as though every nerve ending in his body was screaming for attention, and it was a bit ... distracting to say the least. The initial pain in his foot and leg had been eclipsed by the gunshot wounds, and had now settled back to a dull throb, as long as he wasn't walking on it. But his chest did hurt more than he wanted to admit. No, he wasn't bleeding, but it was almost as if keeping them in check somehow boxed him in, limiting his attention to just the space around him. It was disorienting, like being suddenly struck blind.

"We're almost there," said Frank over his shoulder. "Next stop, Mayfield Road Hospital."

As the ambulance pulled up to the emergency room entrance, Bill leaned over and jumped out. In seconds Frank was by his side to help. As soon as the gurney was on the ground, Frank pulled out a wheelchair for the Doctor. "Come on then you two, let's get you both attended to, shall we," he said smiling confidently.

The Doctor thought about arguing, but if they had to wait for him to limp into the hospital, Sarah'd never get seen to. So he climbed down and sat in the wheelchair, contenting himself to hold onto the gurney. "You two take care of her, I'll just hitchhike," he said.

"You're going to have to have that leg seen to if nothing else Sir," Frank answered him.

Before the Doctor could say anything a medical team was at the door ready to take over. The attending physician looked over at the two attendants as they walked in with their patients. He looked at Sarah Jane on the gurney and then at the Doctor. "Don't tell me she's the gunshot wound?"

"No," Bill said, standing behind the Doctor and pointing repeated at him. "That's Cody's rig. They'll be here any minute. She's the influenza."

The doctor caught on but was confused. He went along with it though and pretended not to be aware of anything. "What's wrong with him," he asked the attendant as he nodded towards the Doctor.

"Never mind me," the Doctor said, "I've only got a bad foot. She's the emergency." He pointed to Sarah.

Bill just pointed to his chest, then held up two fingers.

"Right then," he said shaking his head. He turned to the two nurses behind him. "I'll tend to the child in room four and the gentleman in room seven." He pointed to Sarah Jane. "I'll see to her first. Honestly, "I don't know why they're telling us not to make a big deal about the influenza, when we're seeing more cases every day," he sighed. "Prep them both and send for someone in pediatrics. Tell them to have a room ready, we'll most likely be admitting her."

Sarah Jane looked over at the Doctor and tightened her grip on his hand. "I don't want you to leave me."

Just then Lavinia appeared. "Sarah Jane my poor dear," she exclaimed as she ran to her side and gave her a huge hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't at the door waiting for you, I ran into traffic about a block before I got here."

"Auntie," said Sarah as she put her head on Lavinia's shoulder. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too dearest, but you're alright and that's all that matters now."

"Are you the next of kin," asked one of the nurses.

"Yes, I'm her Aunt and her legal guardian," said Lavinia.

"You can accompany us into the examining room, then. We have some forms to be filled out and we'll need you to answer questions about her medical history as well. I'm Matron Jenkins, I'll be in charge of your niece's care until she goes upstairs to our children's unit.." She motioned to another nurse, "this is Sister Winfield, please follow her to the examination room."

Sarah turned once more to the Doctor. "I don't want to go anywhere without you," she said starting to cry. She had been as brave as possible up until now, but she'd been through enough. Now that her fever was dropping, she was exhausted and sore and in no mood to have her feelings ignored just because she was a child.

"It's all right, you don't have to," the Doctor said. He started climbing to his feet. "I don't need care," he told the Doctor. "She's the priority," he said. "Hello, Lavinia," he said offhandedly.

"I'm sorry Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stay seated. Your ankle is extremely swollen and we'll need to see to it," the doctor said with authority. "Matron, clear this area and get these people to the proper examination rooms at once."

"Of course, immediately Doctor Willette," she said as she moved to wheel the Doctor away.

"Listen," the Doctor said, his hand clamped on the gurney. "I'm not going to give in here. If you're so worried I'm going to drop at any moment, just wheel me in with her, and then if I do, you'll be right there. Sarah's been through enough, and she doesn't want me to leave her, so let's just do this, all right?" He looked at the Doctor fiercely, waiting for an answer.

The Doctor swallowed hard and nodded. "Put them both in the same room and be quick about it," he snapped at the Matron.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane were quickly wheeled into a room, so fast, that Lavinia almost had to run to keep up with them. Within seconds a sister appeared to prep them.

"Goodness," she exclaimed as she looked them over. "What's happened to you two? You're an awful mess. We're going to have to get you both cleaned up at once. Let's take care of you first, shall we little Miss?" She said as she started to unbotton Sarah's nightgown.

The Doctor turned his head to give Sarah some privacy, and put his throbbing foot up on a stool. The last of his adrenaline was ebbing, and as he took a deep breath, he realized that with or without the zero room, he just wanted a nap. Lavinia was here to make sure that Sarah was in good hands, so he could relax on that score. "Lavinia," he said, "I'm going to take a little nap. Make sure they know I didn't pass out, would you?"

"That's a good idea, you rest and I'll be right here watching over the pair of you," smiled Lavinia reassuringly as she patted his hand.

"There's an extra blanket in the closet if you'd like to cover him up," whispered the nurse as she nodded towards the already sleeping Time Lord.

Lavinia got it and carefully covered the Doctor up so as not to wake him. 'The poor man,' thought Lavinia. 'I'm sure he hasn't had a moment's rest since this whole thing started.' She resisted the impulse to brush her hand across his head and kiss his cheek. It wasn't easy though, because while he was obviously quite close to her own age, she felt very motherly towards him. She smiled at the thought, perhaps it was because he was so close to Sarah Jane, well, that and his childlike wonder. Whatever the reason, she felt much older than him.

Sarah was treated and when the Doctor was awakened by the nurse to be prepped he managed to pursuade her and the doctor attending them that only his leg needed to be seen to, and that only needed a splint. He thought about letting them x-ray it, but they'd likely think the machine was out of adjustment because his body was so dense, and compensate by increasing the amount of radiation it out out. That in and of itself wouldn't be a problem, but the next patient seen would get fried. Finally, Doctor Willette had quietly pulled the Matron aside after he had finished and told her to wait until the Doctor had been released in the morning to put Sarah Jane in the pediatric ward.

Lavinia waited until she was sure they were both cared for and secure before she left to get some tea. When she came back, she couldn't help but smile. There was the Doctor, his feet propped up in a sort of lounge chair the sister brought in for him, with Sarah Jane curled up in his arms, her IV trailing off to the side. The two of them were under the blanket and sound asleep.

* * *

The Doctor awoke gradually as the sun filtered in through the hospital window. He could still feel the weight of Sarah Jane sleeping curled up in his shoulder, so he tried not to move and wake her. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and took stock of himself. The bullet wounds were closed - he still hadn't figured out what he was going to do about the actual bullets - but his face and elbow hadn't been broken, just bruised, and all that was left of those injuries was a deep cut on his cheekbone. The swelling had gone down in his foot, even if the bones weren't quite knitted together yet. His knee and hip were mostly healed, if a bit stiff.

But the nick in his temporal glottis wasn't doing any better at all, and it began to occur to him that the odd temporal blindness he was feeling wasn't from keeping the bullet wounds in check. He definitely needed to get back to the TARDIS and take care of that.

Later.

It struck him how comfortable the blanket Lavinia had draped them with was. Not that it was, itself, such an amazing blanket. It was just having someone be so ... motherly. It felt good, especially in the face of what had happened with Maggie. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed that out of his mind. He would have to deal with as soon as possible. For now, he was just going to enjoy this. He leaned his head back and sighed contentedly.

Unbeknownst to the Doctor, Lavinia had been awake all night, watching the two of them, grateful to have her little girl back. She wondered how what had happened to Sarah Jane would effect her. Would this give her nightmares, would she need to talk someone, so many things to consider and deal with if and when the time came. She might need to see a councilor. Lavinia sighed. It would be awful if after she had just started to adjust to losing her parents, she ended up completely traumatized again.

She looked over at her sleeping so peacefully in the Doctor's arms. She could see that the Doctor had been through a lot for Sarah Jane's sake. Strange, she knew so little about him, and yet, she trusted him completely, though for the life of her she couldn't say why. She wondered if he was married and had children of his own. He was attractive enough to be married, and he seemed to love children. He was obviously very well educated and well mannered, and anyone could see he had been properly raised. His credentials and his position were very impressive to say the least, but that wasn't it.

She had a feeling that she would be seeing him again in the future, even if it was another year before he returned once more.

She'd dozed only slightly, off and on until she heard the hospital cart being rolled around serving breakfast to the patients. She'd gotten up quietly to get some more tea when a server brought it in for them, along with a newspaper the nurses though she might like to see. When she sat down she glanced over at the previous evening's headlines. She was still thinking about what she'd read when she thought she heard the Doctor stirring, and got up to go check on him.

The Doctor heard gentle footsteps and looked up to see Lavinia approaching. "Good morning," he whispered.

"Good morning," she whispered back. "Inspector Roberts was in but you were both asleep," she said as she handed him the sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor took it in his free hand as though it were some sort of magic talisman. Already he felt better.

"He said he'll be back later to ask you some questions," Lavinia said. She handed him the newspaper.

He took the paper and as shocked as he was to see the headline, "Unknown Hero saves kidnapped six year old from sudden death - twice!" He was even more shocked to see the photo accompanying the story. It was grainy - probably a lucky shot from a spectator - but it was pretty clear what was happening, as the Doctor seemed to tumble from the fire escape, his foot hooked in the railing as he fell, miraculously plucking the falling girl out of the air by her ankle. The article itself told first about the actual kidnapping, then described in graphic detail Sarah's escape through the window, her fall, and the "miraculous" catch. It then went on to describe in the most sentimental and dramatic terms how the bystanders helped them down the stairs (complete with additional photos), and his arrest (also complete with still more photos, but minus the gunshots). By the time the writer had gotten to Donavon's role in all of this and their escape from the basement, even **he **was on pins and needles to find out if everything had turned out all right. 

He looked back at Lavinia uncomfortably. "It's ... er ... all about selling papers, really."

Lavinia crossed her arms and looked up at him over her glasses. "So did all of that happen or not Doctor?"

"Welllll," he hedged. "Technically, I suppose it did, but of course the reporter jazzed it up a bit."

"Did she lie or exaggerate Doctor?" Lavinia asked somewhat skeptically.

The Doctor looked sheepishly out the window.

Lavinia walked over to him and set her hand lightly on his shoulder. "Sarah Jane would have died if you hadn't risked your own life to save her. There's no way I can possibly thank you. I don't know what I would have done if I lost Sarah too. She's all I have."

He turned back to her. "I know what you mean." He gently kissed the top of Sarah's head.

The haunted look in his eyes wasn't lost on Lavinia. She searched his face closely. "Why do you love her so much?"

The Doctor looked at her, trying to decide what to say. "She's a very special little girl. And one day she's going to grow up to be an amazing person. How can you not love her?"

Lavinia knew that there was more to it than that, but she felt that this wasn't the right time to pursue it. She also knew that no matter what his reasons were, the Doctor was willing to lay down his life for Sarah Jane. She smiled at him. "Do you want me to take her and put her in the bed so you can get up and have breakfast?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," he said, moving his arm so Lavinia could pick her up. "I'm absolutely famished." And I've got a lot still to take care of, he thought.


	20. Chapter 20

Lavinia took Sarah up gently and set her down in the hospital bed. She leaned over and kissed her lovingly before she turned back to the Doctor. She waited for him to sit down and then she wheeled the food tray over to him. "I'm sorry you have to settle for hospital food. You've earned an amazing home cooked meal and so much more. When you and Sarah Jane are released, I promise you that you shall have it."

The Doctor leaned over and snapped his head to the side to get rid of the crick in his neck that had formed overnight. It made a loud "crack!" but it stopped hurting, and he was able to eat. "You know," he said, "you're really making too much of this. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course," he said, taking a mouthful of bacon, "but anybody would have done it."

Lavinia laughed at him. "I'm not sure of that at all. You have to love someone an awful lot to literally climb out on a limb like that and risk your own life to save theirs. You're either very brave, very foolish, or both. No matter what the reason, I'm glad you did it."

"Well," he said uncomfortably, "I'm just glad it turned out all right." He took a swig of tomato juice to wash down the bacon. "Speaking of being grateful, I'd be ever so grateful if you could ... er ... find someone who can give me a lift back to Portsmouth. I'm afraid I left some other items that are rather important to me at the scene of the crime, as they say."

"Other than that thing I brought you last night?" Roberts said as he arrived.

"Er... yes, I'm afraid so," the Doctor said.

"Well, then maybe I could give you a lift. I obviously have plenty of questions I need to ask you. Inspector Donovan's pulled through, so we'll need to start building a case."

The Doctor looked hard at him, then decided to throw caution to the wind. And anyway, he really did want to see Donovan behind bars for a long, long time. "All right, certainly, I'd appreciate that, thanks."

The Doctor promised Lavinia he'd be back as soon as possible - Sarah was likely to sleep for a while, and feel much better when she woke up - and hobbled down to the car with Roberts as though he were a visitor and not a patient. A few judicious pauses and they were out the door before any of the nurses realized it.

Once they were out the door, Roberts turned to the Doctor with a wry smile. "You're not one for following convention are you Doctor?"

The Doctor chuckled. "I'm not one for following anything." He tossed the crutches into the back seat and sat in the front. "Thanks for the ride, I appreciate it. And thanks again for picking this up." He waggled the sonic at Roberts.

"In for a pence, in for a pound, heh, Doctor? Besides, we have been working together, so to speak, to solve a case haven't we? Not to mention the fact that I was just your accomplice in an illegal action," he said wagging a finger at the Doctor in mock admonishment.

"What illegal action?" the Doctor asked with mock indignation. "I'm not a prisoner, am I? If I want to leave the hospital, I'm going to do it."

"Of course you will, with or without a consent form. You do realize that the whole hospital will be turned upside down looking for you don't you?" he chuckled.

"No, of course not. They'll ask Lavinia where I am and she'll say I left. Simple. You put too much stock in bureaucracy when common sense will do. And speaking of common sense," the Doctor said, changing the subject, "I do believe I forgot to thank you for saving our lives."

"No thanks necessary, it's part of my job. The best reward I can get is to know that all's well with you and little Miss Smith. Trust me when I say that aside from an end to kidnappings altogether, a rescue with no one harmed is the best solution we could hope for. Unfortunately, we don't get a happy ending every time," he sad sadly.

The drive was relatively peaceful; Roberts couldn't take notes while he drove, so he elected to save his questions until they'd gotten there, and made small talk instead. Before long they were back in Portsmouth.

The Doctor spotted the TARDIS and guided Roberts over to it, opening the door and retrieving his crutches almost before the car had come to a stop. Hobbling to the door, he pulled out his key.

Roberts followed him. "That's a Police Box, you can't go in there," he said.

"Can't I?" the Doctor asked innocently, opening the door and maneuvering himself inside.

Roberts stood outside and waited. After a moment he called out to him. "I'm sure I don't want to know what you're doing in there, so I won't ask questions, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come out of there now."

The Doctor, who was taking a moment to just enjoy the atmosphere of the TARDIS and absorb her energy as he ran his hand fondly over the console, smiled. "You'll have to come in and get me," he called back.

Roberts put his hand against the door. "Now see here Doctor, I really don't have time to play games," he started to push against the door. It began to open, then it swung wide and he fell in. "That's not very fun... Oh, good heavens," he exclaimed as he stood up and brushed himself off. He looked around and quickly assessed that something was definitely other-worldly about his surroundings. He stared at the Doctor. "I knew there was something different about you, how could I not, what with all those odd gimmicks of yours. But this," he gestured at the console room. "This goes far beyond different," he said as his eyes narrowed. "Who are you, Doctor?"

The Doctor smiled at him. He'd decided soon after he woke up that Roberts could be trusted; it was probably his returning the sonic without a word that pushed it over the top. "I'm a Time Lord," he said simply. "And if you'll excuse me for a few moments, I've got to take care of this." He pointed to the cast on his foot.

"Not just yet Doctor, I need some answers. For starters, what the hell is this thing we're in? I'm guessing that the Police Box is just an entrance, and when I fell I ended up in some underground building. Are you a spy or something, and precisely what is 'a Time Lord'?"

"Yes, the Police Box is just an entrance, but no, you're not in an underground building. And yes, it is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Nobody seems to say that anymore," he mumbled, almost to himself. "Walk with me," he said, heading out of the control room towards the infirmary. "Oh, and grab that sledgehammer under the console, would you?"

Roberts picked up the sledgehammer and walked along with the Doctor as he hobbled down the hallway on his crutches. "May I ask what do you intend to do with this thing?"

The Doctor stopped, bent down, knocked on his cast, and then continued down the hall.

Roberts was stunned. "You mean to say you're going to," he pointed to the cast. "With this?" He pointed to the sledge hammer. "You must be mad. Don't you realize that you could crush your whole leg, man?"

"Don't be ridiculous," the Doctor said, hopping up on a table as they finally reached their destination. "That's what this is for," he said, pulling out the sonic and adjusting its settings before setting to work removing the cast. "But the door to the cabinet with the osseoknitter in it sticks. See that dent over there?" He pointed to a spot on the wall behind him. "Give it a good whack, would you?"

Roberts looked at him askance and then shrugged. He pulled the hammer back as far as he could and then fly. The cabinet door flew open and Roberts smiled at it with satisfaction. "That's done it."

"Lovely," the Doctor said, leaning over and pulling out the osseoknitter. "Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to do another favor for me," he said, running the tool over his foot, then wiggling his toes and sighing with relief. "And rather a big one, I'm afraid."

Before Roberts could answer him, a blood curdling scream rang through the TARDIS.


	21. Chapter 21

"Ah," the Doctor said, hearing Maggie screaming, "that'll be her now." He took off down the hall on his newly healed leg, Roberts in hot pursuit.

"What's going on, Doctor," said Roberts between breaths as he ran. "Who's that screaming?"

"Maggie. I've had her down here for her own protection. I'm betting she can identify Donovan," he shouted over his shoulder. He slid as he tried to come to a quick stop outside her cell.

Maggie was hunched down on the floor with her hands over her ears, hollering loudly. "Make it stop, please just make it stop, I'm going mad from it all!"

He disengaged the force shield and sat on the bench near her, taking her by the shoulders and trying to get her attention. "Maggie, can you hear me?"

Maggie looked at him as if she had just seen the jaws of hell opening up for her. "I don't want it," she cried. "Please, oh, please make it go away! I can't take anymore, it's driving me mad! I'll do anything you want just make it go away!"

"You mean the gift?" the Doctor asked.

Maggie grabbed hold of his shoulders and nodded frantically. "I'll do anything you want me to, just make it stop!"

The Doctor looked hard at her for a few moments; there was only one way to "make it stop" and that was to destroy any psychic abilities she had, forever. It would put an end to any thoughts of finding out what his mother had meant, but that was the least of his problems. At best, she would be cut off from even the minor psychic connections humans had with each other. At worst, he'd have Maggie's death on his conscience.

Maggie let out a shriek that sent shivers up his spine and he made his decision. The Time Lords had caused enough misery; he wasn't going to let them torture Maggie for one more second, even indirectly. Not even to spare his conscience. He turned her to face him and put a hand on both sides of her head, charging into her mind with such force that he had to remind himself what it was he was actually doing.

His intention had been to do more than to burn out Maggie's psychic abilities; in order to really seal her off from the misery she was experiencing, he would also have to manipulate the dimension that humans thought of as "time", but that Time Lords saw as just one more direction, no different from height or width or depth, pathways for telepathic signals. It was simple, and straightforward.

And, he realized an instant too late, impossible.

Maggie had been soaking up temporal energy every second of her stay in the TARDIS, and the moment he tried to manipulate it, it blasted him back, his soul seeming to explode, energy bursting from his damaged temporal glottis. He was dimly aware of hitting the wall behind him, a tiny portion of his mind feeling the bullets in his chest jarring.

"Theta, why do you seek to do this thing," his mother's voice rang in his head.

It was as if he were a child again, unable to harness the forces of the universe, unable to keep her from invading his mind like a parent seeking compliance from a rebellious child. "She can't handle it," he said, trying to find his temporal footing. "Feeling everything... it's too much for her. She's not a Time Lord, she can't... not feel it all."

"Like you."

His eyes closed against the blinding light, he nevertheless saw her kneeling in front of him as though she were fixing a skinned knee. Gone were the angry lines that had creased her Councilwoman's face when last they'd parted. Instead she was his mother again, there for him.

All the emotion he'd been holding since the destruction of Gallifrey burst out of him and he sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Mother."

She shook her head sadly. "Your destiny was chosen for you long ago. You must not blame yourself. What you have done you had to do. I know that. I regret only that it was you who had to carry it out." She stroked his head gently, reassuringly, as though she were physically there with him. "But it was, and I fear there is more work for you to do. You must leave this place, and prepare."

He looked at her almost pleadingly, the prophecy of his death echoing in his ears. He spent his life never showing his vulnerability to anyone, except perhaps Sarah. Now he felt those walls crumbling away. "Mother, I'm alone and afraid, running from a future I know has to come. I'm the last of the Time Lords, a shadow on the cosmos, desperate for some kind of peace before I die."

"You will never find peace as long as you allow yourself to be buffeted by the winds of Time. Until you surrender to them and learn to accept things as they are, the peace you seek will always be beyond your grasp."

The Doctor thought about what she was saying, how many things he had tampered with. Even recently; if he hadn't pulled Sarah Jane from that car... "I can't accept things as they are. I can't just sit back and observe, Mother. I have to put things right."

"Of course you do," she smiled softly. "If you didn't you wouldn't be you. You wouldn't be my son." She said his name gently, soothingly. "You must fulfill your destiny, sooner or later. For now, find whatever peace you can, but you cannot run forever. When the time comes, you will be ready. And I know that you will do what you must."

And then blackness.

* * *

The Doctor woke up slowly, gradually becoming aware that he was floating in the Zero Room. He took a deep breath and for the first time since he'd been shot, it didn't hurt.

He had no idea how long he'd been out, but he did know that he had finally managed not only to heal his temporal glottis, but also to expel the bullets, which now lay on the floor beneath him. He righted himself and floated gently down to the floor, opening the door to see Roberts and Maggie huddled in an alcove, Roberts pointing his gun at a blue and green cephalopod posturing at them. From the way his arm was shaking, it seemed he'd been that way for some time.

"Norman," the Doctor said. "behave yourself."

Norman jumped, made what might have been a happy noise, and ran down the hallway.

"Sorry, he thinks he's an Alsatian," the Doctor smiled as he approached. "You two all right?"

Roberts put his gun away and simply stared down the hall Norman had just scampered down.

Maggie was still shaking and clinging for dear life to Roberts. "I want out of this loony bin," she blurted out.

"Right, about that," the Doctor said. "Inspector, I was hoping you could arrange some sort of amnesty for Maggie in exchange for helping you convict Donovan, seeing as how she helped to save Sarah's life."

Roberts smiled at him and then at Maggie. "I think that might be quite possible considering the circumstances." Then he turned back to the Doctor. "Do you think she can be trusted to keep quiet about all this," he said as he gestured around the TARDIS.

"Oh, no worries, I will," exclaimed Maggie nodding her head emphatically. "They'd put me away in a straight jacket and throw away the key if I was to tell anyone about this place. Trust me, all I want to do is go home and forget everything that's happened."

The Doctor shrugged, as if to confirm what she was saying. "By the way, how did I get up here, anyway?"

"It was that woman," Roberts said.

The Doctor felt the blood drain out of his face. "What woman?"

"You bent down and put your hands on Maggie's head, and then there was this flash of light and you were out cold and there was this woman standing over you. After a few minutes she stood up, told us to pick you up and follow her, and she led us up here. We put you in the room and closed the door, and when we turned around, she was gone."

"And I had one hell of a headache," Maggie said.

"Then your ... um ... dog cornered us," Roberts finished.

The Doctor listened, nodding. She'd taken care of all of it. She'd made sure that he was all right, that he had what he needed, then she'd closed the portal herself. She never ceased to surprise him. Must run in the family, he chuckled. And speaking of family ... He searched his pocket for Martha's phone.

"Are you looking for this?" Roberts asked, holding it up.

The Doctor snatched it out of his hand. "Where did you get that?"

"While we were carrying you your pocket started ringing. It's got a little telephone symbol on one of the buttons so I took a chance. It was Miss Smith. She says that Sarah Jane's doing much better and they've sent her home. I didn't know what to say so I told her you were having your foot seen to and that I'd let you know she called."

He looked at the time on the phone. He'd been asleep for more than half a day. No wonder the two of them looked exhausted. "Right," he said, "time for everyone to get home, then."


	22. Chapter 22

Inspector Roberts, Maggie, and the Doctor piled into Roberts' car for the trip back to the station, where they'd agreed to keep Maggie in protective custody until she testified against Donovan. When they were on the road, he pulled out Martha's phone and dialed Lavinia.

"Hullo," answered Lavinia with a cheery tone in her voice.

"Ah, Lavinia, I'm finally on my way back. Foot's all better, thanks, but we'll need to stop off at the station first, and take care of a few things."

"Good to know **Doctor**," she said, loud enough so that Sarah could hear who it was. "That gives me and Sarah Jane a chance to finish a little something we're working on here." Sarah could be heard giggling in the background.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at the sound of things getting back to some semblance of 'normal'. "Lovely. Then I'll see you in ... about three hours?" He looked to Roberts for confirmation, and the inspector nodded.

"Wonderful, three hours will be perfect. However, I'm afraid I have a rather large favor to ask of you, Doctor. It would involve you staying in Croydon another day and a half. Would that be possible for you?"

"I suppose, is everything all right?"

"Well, after sitting up all night in the hospital with Sarah Jane, I was thinking about how dreadfully important it really is for me to give my lecture about spreading the word about this influenza outbreak and the need for vaccinations. The conference organizers are still interested, and it's crucial or I wouldn't even think to ask you. Sadly, Miss Caswell has decided to retire and I haven't got anyone else I really trust yet to replace her. Do you think you can manage it? I'm sure Sarah Jane would behave very well for you."

"Spend another day or two with Sarah Jane?" His mind whirled at the possibilities. "Of course, I'll be more than happy to do that."

"Thank you so much, Doctor. I know Sarah Jane will be looking forward to that," said Lavinia as she nodded towards Sarah Jane. The six year old squealed with delight.

* * *

When the Doctor knocked on the door of Lavinia and Sarah Jane's home, Sarah threw it open and lept into his arms. "I made you dinner," she exclaimed, grinning proudly from ear to ear.

The Doctor swung her around happily. "You did? Well, you're certainly looking better, and I'll bet you're a marvelous cook," he said, carrying her back into the house.

"Well, Auntie Lavinia helped too." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I made a surprise for you all by myself. It took me all day to make it."

"I'm sure it will be wonderful," he whispered back to her. He carried her into the kitchen. "We're back," he told Lavinia. "I understand Sarah here made dinner with you," he said, shifting her on his hip.

"Yes, she's been very busy today making all sorts of food and preparations." Lavinia smiled at her niece. It was obvious that they were sharing a secret. "Sarah Jane dear, do you think it's time to give the Doctor his surprise," she said conspiratorially.

Sarah looked at the Doctor with a twinkle in her eye. "Are you ready for a surprise?"

"A surprise?" he asked, pretending that he was actually surprised. "Anytime."

"Then you have to put me down and close your eyes. I'll lead you to it."

"I'll just have to trust you, then, won't I?" He set her on the ground and closed his eyes. "All right, my eyes are closed," he said, holding out his hand.

Sarah took it and carefully led him into the dining room. Lavinia followed closely behind them.

Once he was in the middle of the room, Sarah Jane looked over at Lavinia who nodded approvingly at her.

"You can open your eyes now," said Sarah, trembling with anticipation as she watched to see what his reaction would be.

When he opened his eyes, the entire room was decorated. There were tall candlesticks with Lavinia's best china and crystal on the table, balloons, and streamers hanging from the ceiling, and a hand made banner that said, 'My Prince is my Hero.' The banner had drawings of the Doctor in a crown and cape brandishing a sword and saving 'Princess Sarah' from a tall building with three evil looking dragons lying slain on the ground. Sarah had made several such drawings and taped them all over. On the table was a huge cake with pink and blue roses. The cake had 'Thank You For Saving Me, Prince Doctor' written in green frosting.

For a moment, the Doctor was speechless. In her adult life, he'd saved Sarah's life dozens, maybe hundreds of times, and she'd saved his perhaps just as many. But while they'd always been grateful to each other, it had always been muted, in a sort of it's-all-part-of-the-job kind of way. Now he was seeing for the first time how she really saw him, and the responsibility was huge. "This is ... beautiful," he said, finally finding his voice.

Sarah beamed at him. "I hoped you'd like it."

Lavinia was smiling too. "Sarah Jane not only cooked for you Doctor, she selected the entire menu for your celebratory meal."

"Did she? Are we having all sweets, then?" he asked, beaming back at Sarah.

Sarah turned up her head at him. "Certainly not," she said, looking miffed. "For starters we're having Blue Cheese and Fruit Tart, then Lancashire Hot Pot, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts, Creamed Parsnips and apple and raspberry tea."

Lavinia was laughing at both of them at this point. "It's true Doctor, I uhm, helped, we usually only fuss about in the kitchen this much for holidays. I do hope that you're very hungry."

"Well, I am, and I love holidays. Any time I get to have dinner with you, my dear," he said, picking Sarah up once again, "as far as I'm concerned, it **is** a holiday."

"You sit down at the head of the table please, Doctor. Auntie and I are going to wait on you."

The Doctor did as he was told, and sat down at the table, setting her on her feet.

She ran back into the kitchen and in a few minutes, she and Lavinia had dinner on the table, and they started eating.

"Did you like it," Sarah asked after they all finished their cake.

"It was delicious," he said. "Oh! We almost forgot something very important, you know."

"We did," said Sarah with surprise. "We ate everything I made, even afters."

"Yes," he said, jumping up and fishing in his pocket, "it was a meal fit for a birthday girl." He pulled out a box just a little bigger than he should have been able to fit in his pocket and handed it to her.

Sarah's eyes grew wide with delight. "For me, but my birthday is over, and this is your party."

"Well, you didn't get your birthday party, so I hope that you will share mine with me and accept this somewhat belated present. And besides, you were just as brave as I was. Maybe even braver."

Sarah Jane shook her head no. "You saved me, and that was the bravest thing ever. She got up and went over to the sideboard, then picked up a small box. "That's why Auntie and I got you a present."

"Well, aren't I surprised," the Doctor said. "Do you want to open yours first?"

"You open yours first, please," she said as she handed it to him.

As the Doctor lifted the leather-covered lid with the Harrods logo on it, he could see that it had burgundy velvet lining and there was something with gold tissue paper in it. He lifted the paper and he saw a silver pocket watch with a fob that was made of buttery soft black leather with a silver medallion that said "Doctor" on it.

"Open the watch," Sarah said sweetly.

He did, and the watch was engraved on the inside. It said, "To my Hero, with Love always, Princess Sarah".

The Doctor picked Sarah up and sat her on his lap, then hugged her tightly. Finally he set her back down and held the watch to the spot between his hearts. "I can't tell you how much I will always treasure this. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome, Doctor. Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"I'd like to second that," said Lavinia. "I think a toast is in order, don't you Sarah Jane?"

"Oh yes, Auntie, I really do."

Lavinia handed Sarah a cup of tea. Sarah took it and held it up to the Doctor. Lavinia held her cup up as well. "To the Doctor, a true hero, a good friend, and a very welcome addition to our lives."

"To the Doctor," Sarah Jane joined in.

"Thank you," the Doctor said, blushing just a little. "And to the birthday girl!" he toasted. "You still haven't opened your present."

She picked up her gift and carefully opened it. Inside the box was a small tiara, meant to fit perfectly on Sarah's head. It had sparkling stones that looked like diamonds set in it and there were blue, pink and green ones too. The stones were nothing that anyone on Earth would think much of, but on the planet they came from, they were considered very rare and priceless.

Sarah's mouth dropped open when she saw it and she reached out and touched it with reverence. "It's a crown, and it's just my size." She threw her arms around the Doctor and covered his cheeks with kisses. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's the most beautiful crown I've ever seen. Can you put it on my head please?"

"Of course." He lifted the tiara high over his head, and making trumpeting noises with his mouth, he slowly lowered it onto her head, making sure it was straight. "There. Perfect. Just like you." He turned her to face Lavinia. "Don't you think?"

"Most definitely. A perfect princess if ever I saw one," answered Lavinia.

Sarah leaned her head against the Doctor's shoulder. "You're the best prince ever."

The Doctor just smiled, watching her pose in her crown. Suddenly he could see her posing for him in Victoria's dress, and in all sorts of other things over the years. Some things never changed.

Just then the doorbell rang. "That will be my driver," said Lavinia as she went to the door. Opening it, she saw Inspector Roberts with the reporter, Belinda Carruthers, standing next to him. "May we come in? We heard that there's a birthday girl here," he said.

"Why yes, there is," Lavinia smiled at them. "And fortunately, you're just in time to have some birthday cake with us." She opened the door to allow them to enter.

"Inspector Roberts," Sarah Jane ran to the door. "It's **my **birthday that you must have heard about. Look what my prince got for me! Isn't it beautiful," she said as she turned around regally for him.

Roberts bent down to her level. "Oh my, it's truly stunning. That looks good enough to be part of the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Why, I'll bet the Queen herself doesn't have one quite that exquisite."

Sarah Jane smiled at him and extended her hand. "Thank you good sir, we are most gratified for your kind remarks," she said, imitating what she'd seen of the Queen in newsreels.

Roberts stood up, took her hand, then bowed to her. "Always happy to be of service, ma'am." Then he turned to the reporter by his side. "May I present 'Lady Carruthers' your majesty. She's a reporter here to do a feature on your gallant rescue and to help celebrate the anniversary of your natal day."

Carruthers curtsied to Sarah. "May I say that this is truly an honor for me."

"Oh, and this is for you," said Roberts, handing Sarah Jane a gift box with a card.

"Oh, thank you," she said. She opened the card first, as she had been taught to, and read it. "Oh, it's signed by the whole police force! Thank you so much." Then she opened the box and inside was a new Priscilla Kitten nightgown, just like the one that had been taken into evidence at the hospital. "Oh, thank you so much. Auntie explained that we had to throw the old one away, because it couldn't be fixed," said Sarah Jane as she hugged it to her.

"This is a gift from my newspaper, your Highness," said Miss Carruthers as she pulled a stuffed Priscilla Kitten from behind her back and handed it to her.

Sarah Jane took it and hugged it too. "Thank you very, very much," she smiled at her.

Just then the doorbell rang again.

"I do hope that this is my driver," said Lavinia, opening the door.

The chauffer was not overly tall, looking almost eastern European, his raspy voice matching his stocky appearance and seeming almost to complement his mustache. "Lavinia Smith?"

"Yes, are you the driver the conference sent for me?"

"Yes, Ma'am, if you'll come with me, please." He picked up her valise and began carrying it out to the car.

"I'll be right along," said Lavinia. "Good bye, Doctor. You know where the conference is and you only need to call there if you need me. Thank you for everything Inspector Roberts," she said to him. "You and your friend must have some cake before you go, please." Then she held her arms out to Sarah Jane, who ran to her to be picked up. "Goodbye, Sarah Jane, I'll see you tomorrow evening. Have sweet dreams my dear. I love you." She gave her a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too," said Sarah as she returned the hug and kiss. Lavinia set her down and she stood at the door and waved. "Bye Auntie, have fun at the conference, see you tomorrow."

Lavinia turned to leave, but stood at the door for a moment in surprise. "My, I wasn't expecting them to send such an elegant car for me." She shrugged and headed towards the limousine.

The Doctor looked out the door, watching Lavinia walk towards the limousine, something niggling in the back of his head. Lavinia certainly deserved a limousine, but at this point in her career, it seemed odd that they'd have sent one for her. "The Teleological Response of the Virus", had only been published last year; it would be several years before her reputation were truly cemented. And something about that driver...

He threw open the door just as Lavinia sat down in the back seat. "Blevins!" he shouted.

* * *

Next: The End, we promise!


	23. Chapter 23

The response to his shout was a bit more immediate than the Doctor had expected, as Blevins pulled a pistol from his waistband and fired on the house, missing the Doctor by mere inches. He glanced back to see Bonita and Sarah Jane on the floor (unhurt) and sprinted for the car and it's fleeing driver alongside Roberts. Roberts didn't dare fire back for fear of hitting Lavinia, who'd had the sense to climb out of the back seat just as the Doctor threw himself into it and Blevins floored the gas pedal.

Blevins didn't realize immediately that he had company, and by the time he did, the Doctor had an arm around his neck. A moment later the car slammed into a phone pole and only the Doctor's quick grabbing of Blevins around the chest kept the impact from ripping his head off. But it was enough that the Doctor was able to grab the gun and toss it out of the car while they waited for Roberts to finish his run to the driver's door.

Roberts pulled out his handcuffs before he even came to a stop. Reaching for the door, he opened it and quickly slapped the cuffs around Blevins wrists while the Doctor held him in check. "Good job Doctor," panted Roberts with a satisfied smile.

Bonita Carruthers also caught up to the car. She was grinning from ear to ear. "You know something," she said as she smiled at Roberts appreciatively. "I'm going to watch you very closely from now on, Inspector. I have a feeling you're about to become my new best friend when it comes to turning up great print."

Roberts flashed her a sheepish grin. "I'm just doing my job Miss Carruthers, nothing special about that. Then he pulled a bit at Blevins. "March back to the house. I'm going to arrange for a ride for you. It won't be a fancy limo, but I promise, it'll be a very memorable ride for you."

The Doctor climbed stiffly out of the car as Robert, Carruthers, and Blevins made their way to the house. Then he climbed back into the front seat and used the sonic to open the glove box. A quick glance at the paperwork confirmed his suspicions; it was indeed a government car. He trudged back to the house.

Lavinia had already phoned the police, and they were on the way. She looked over at Blevins angrily when Roberts sat him in a chair to await his trip to the station house. "Are you the man who's responsible for kidnapping my child?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"As a rule, I'm not inclined to use violence for any reason," Lavinia said as she leaned forward and slapped the man's face with all her might. "Having said that, I will also add that I'm very grateful for the opportunity to tell you exactly what I think of you. You sir, are a vile, despicable monster, and I hope you are punished to the full extent of the law. Do you realize that a six year old child could have lost her life because of you? Would you even care if she had?" Lavinia glared at him furiously.

Sarah Jane had run and hid behind the Doctor as soon as he came into the house. She peeked out from behind his legs just in time to see her Aunt facing down Blevins.

"You can't prove a thing," Blevins said.

"No," the Doctor said casually, lifting Sarah onto his shoulder. "But I think I can. You, sir, are the missing piece to the puzzle." He paced the room, trying not to be too much like Sherlock Holmes expounding on the solution to a mystery. "The one thing we haven't had up until now was the motive for the kidnapping. It didn't seem to be money, and Donovan killed the other kidnappers, so it seemed to me to be more of a cover-up than anything else. So then the question is, a cover up of what?" He leaned down to be face-to-face with Blevins, keeping Sarah carefully balanced. "Influenza, that's what."

He stood up again. "Lavinia, your talk was to be about spreading the word about the importance of influenza vaccines. That made somebody in the government health-related department that owns that car -" he said, pointing to the wreck now surrounded by constables - "very nervous. There aren't enough vaccines right now, which is also why the hospital staff was told not to emphasize Asian flu, even though the pandemic has just arrived on Britain's shores. Sarah's kidnapping was a way to keep you occupied so you wouldn't go to the conference."

He turned to Roberts. "You and Donovan had done some protection work for a government agency, so that made him the perfect choice to run the operation, particularly since he'd be the Inspector in charge when the call came in, so he could make sure that the investigation proceeded slowly enough to keep everyone busy until the conference was over."

He turned back to Lavinia. "When you called and said you still wanted to do the talk, they panicked and brought back their front man, who'd found the actors hired to create a diversion at Kensington station in case Maggie couldn't be trusted. Roscoe Blevins. If that's even your real name."

He waited for a response.

Two constables had been standing in the doorway talking down the Doctor's whole speech. Bonita Carruthers had her notepad out and was writing it all down in shorthand.

"Don't worry about that," smiled Roberts with satisfaction. "We'll find out he is soon enough and with the information you just gave us along with Maggie McNair's testimony we'll have this case closed in no time." He turned to Lavinia. "If you don't have any objections Miss Smith, I'd be very happy to arrange a police escort for you so get to that conference on schedule, and protection once you get there." He shot a glance over to Blevins. "We wouldn't want you to miss giving that speech of yours now, would we?"

"I'm not saying anything," Blevins said.

"Not much point in trying to stop her now, anyway," the Doctor said. "After all, Miss Carruthers here is going to publish the whole story, aren't you?"

"You better believe it," Bonita exclaimed enthusiastically. "This story with my byline on it is going to be sensational. I can't believe my luck, me with an exclusive on a story that has everything. An adorable child, kidnapping, suspense, an attractive hero, murder and the frosting on the cake, a government cover-up for me to do an expose on. Christmas just came early for me this year. I'm anticipating a huge bonus and a promotion for this," she said, kissing her notebook and hugging it to herself.

The Doctor chuckled, wondering if he could get out of town before it was published.

Sarah Jane was staring intently at Bonita Carruthers as she spoke. "Could you please teach me how to be a reporter," she asked when there was a break in the talking.

Bonita smiled up an saluted her sharply. "You bet, princess. I'll come and give you private lessons every chance I get. If we can get permission from your Aunt," she said eying Lavinia.

"I think that might be possible," Lavinia smiled. "We'll talk about it after I come home."

"Hooray," said Sarah Jane bouncing on the Doctor's shoulders. "I'm going to be the first princess reporter ever."

"All right then," the Doctor said. "I hear the sirens now, so Lavinia, you're off to the conference. Inspector, you've got Mister Blevins to deal with. And Miss Carruthers, you've got a story to write, if you want to make tomorrow's edition." Sarah put her head down on his and yawned wearily. "And I think after all this excitement, the pricess is ready for bed."

Lavinia smiled and waved as she quietly headed out the door. The Doctor heard her telling someone that she needed her valise from the wrecked car.

Roberts extended his hand to the Doctor. As he took it, the two men shook hands and said nothing for a moment. "Goodbye, and thank you for everything, Doctor, especially your faith in me," Roberts finally said with a knowing glance.

The Doctor smiled back at him. "Thanks for making me right," he said.

"Can I give you a lift Miss Carruthers," Roberts said as he turned to her.

"I'd love that," she smiled at him. As they headed for the door, she looked over at the Doctor and the now half asleep Sarah Jane. "Take good care of that little treasure you've got there, Prince Charming. I have a feeling she's got quite a future ahead of her."

"Miss Carruthers, you have no idea," the Doctor said, shaking his head. When they were gone, he closed the door behind them and headed up the stairs, Sarah on his shoulder and her new Priscilla Kitten nightgown in hand. When he got to Sarah's room, he gave it to her and told her he'd be right outside while she changed.

Sarah changed, brushed her teeth and her hair then opened the door. "Can I go back down and get my stuffed Priscilla Kitten please? I want to sleep with her. I'm going to put her on my pillow right next to Elizabeth."

"You hop into bed and I'll get her for you," he said. He headed back downstairs and now that everyone was gone, locked the front and back doors and retrieved the stuffed animal. When he got back upstairs, Sarah was in bed, wearing her Priscilla Kitten nightgown just as she had been when he'd put her to bed before venturing out to the seance. How long ago was that now?

She looked so peaceful, the only sign that she'd been through anything, the tiara that was still on her head. She was resillient, he'd give her that. The crown made her look like a real princess, and once again he thought about her all grown up, the way she looked when they were in Italy, smiling up at him in her ball gown.

His mind went back to the reason he'd risked coming back here in the first place; how much time would he really have with Sarah? Not enough. An eternity wouldn't be enough. But maybe, if he were careful, he could steal just a little bit more time with her now, when she was little, before their time lines crossed. He did promise to visit her for every birthday, after all. Yes, he would definitely keep that promise. He would soak up every second with her that he could get.

He sat down in the chair beside her bed, then took off his shoes before propping his feet up on the mattress. He yawned. And now he had a whole day with her tomorrow. Perhaps they could take a trip...

* * *

The End, finally. Until the next story...

Thanks for sticking with us!


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